Twilight Adventure
by Lily Silver-chan
Summary: You are fated to play a part in a great destiny. The wielders of the four elements shall unite with the hero and cleanse the land of darkness. This is the prophecy passed down to the light spirits.
1. Prologue

**Prologue **

_Rise, warriors. Come to my spring._

I opened my eyes and saw that I was standing on the shore of a small pool of water, the waves gently lapping against the sand near my feet. All around me was impenetrable blackness, but floating just above the water was a strange ball of white light. The mysterious voice seemed to be emanating from the center of the light, as clear and gentle as the spring beneath it.

I did what it said, rising from the kneeling position I had been in. As I stood, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Three other figures were rising with me. I squinted at them, trying to pick out individual features, but it was too dark to really see their faces. We all waded into the water, and the voice spoke again.

_You are fated to play a part in a great destiny. The wielders of the four elements shall unite with the hero and cleanse the land of darkness. This is the prophecy passed down to the light spirits. _

So the glowing orb was a light spirit. Why was it telling me about some strange supposed destiny? This seemed suspiciously similar to fantasy movies and games.

The light slowly faded along with the figures, and I was left alone in the darkness. I saw a faint shadow up ahead, and, curious, I decided to walk toward it. As I drew closer, I noticed with a start that it was perfectly mimicking my every move.

"Hello?" I called out to the figure, tense. There was no reply. I continued walking until I was right in front of it. All I could see was a dark outline and a pair of glowing red eyes. I looked closer, and suddenly recognized it.

In front of me was a mirror. The dark figure was...me. Well, sort of. Her skin and hair were pure black, and I already mentioned the glowing red eyes. As I stared in astonishment, the dark me smirked and stepped out of the mirror. Now she was standing right in front of me, holding a huge knife. She lunged at me, and I ran. I felt myself falling as the world faded to total darkness.

I jolted up, heart racing and chest heaving. I was in bed, and it was just turning light. My breathing slowed, and I looked around. This was not my room. I was confused, until I saw my friends Rune and Sierra sleeping on the floor. Kristen, or Kris as everyone called her, was next to me, still asleep. That's right, I was in Kris's room. Rune and Sierra were visiting our city, and we had all spent the night at Kris's house.

Rune stirred, and sat up. "'Morning, Lily," she yawned, looking at me.

"Good morning. Did you sleep good?" I asked.

"Yep. You?"

"Yeah, but I had a weird dream. I'll tell you about it when the others wake up." Eventually Kris and Sierra woke up, with a little 'help' from Rune that involved throwing a few pillows, and we headed to the kitchen for breakfast. As we were eating cereal, I told them about the dream I had.

"So, there was this pool with a light spirit in it. It said something like there is a destiny we would be a part of..."

"Who's we?" Rune interrupted.

"I'm not sure. There were people around me, but I couldn't see them clearly. Anyway, it said something about 'wielders of elements' and 'uniting with the hero', but I didn't really get it. And the weirdest part happened after that. There was this mirror, and I saw me in it, only I was all dark with red eyes, kind of like Dark Link from Zelda."

"Cool," said Rune.

"Yeah, but kinda freaky. She tried to kill me."

"I had a dream like that a few days ago," said Sierra. "There was someone talking about destiny, but I think it was a tree."

"A tree? Like that talking tree from Ocarina of time?" asked Kris.

"I don't know, I haven't played it."

"This is so weird! I had that dream too, but I can't remember who was talking. I think it was someone or something from Twilight Princess," said Rune.

"I had that dream, too," said Kris. "The dark version of me was really creepy!"

"Why did we all have similar dreams?" asked Sierra.

"I don't know. It's like those dreams Link always has before his quest. In almost every game he has a dream telling him about how he's supposed to be the hero," I replied.

"Oh yeah, because that's totally going to happen to us!" Rune said sarcastically, making us all laugh.

"Well, let's get started!" I said excitedly. Everyone agreed, and we all went to the living room. We were planning on playing the entire Twilight Princess game in one day, and I was psyched about getting to show it to Sierra, who had never played the game before. Kris turned on the Wii, and we started playing. We had decided to take turns playing so that each of us could do our favorite parts. Rune started in Ordon village, and she got through the beginning stuff fairly quickly. Kris did the stuff in the twilight next. We were all excited to meet up with Midna, one of our favorite characters. When she got to the tower with Zelda, Kris gave the controller to Sierra. After the cutscene about Zant's invasion, Midna warped Link back to the light world, and the light spirit told his story. Sierra started sneaking through Ordon to get the sword and shield. We helped her a little, but she got most of it done on her own. She continued to the twilight in Faron woods, and with our help and Midna's, she restored the land to light. When Link was revealed as the hero and got his signature green tunic and hat, we quietly cheered. I always loved the scene when he was transformed back into a human. It seemed like the real start of the adventure, and I never got tired of seeing it.

Sierra continued on to the bridge that led to the first dungeon, where she met the golden wolf form of the hero's shade. "It's so pretty!" she said.

"Wait till you see his other form," I mumbled. When the hero's shade took Link to the strange misty world, he howled and turned into a skeleton with armor.

"Oh," she whispered, a little freaked out. Everyone laughed. The hero's shade taught Link the ending blow, and he was taken back to the normal world. Finally, Sierra handed me the controller and I continued into the forest temple.

I sped through it, fighting Ook and rescuing the monkeys. I defeated the boss with ease, and got the first fused shadow. Every time I play, I can imagine the dark energy coming off of it. This time, however, I could actually feel it. The dark energy was coming off in waves, and I felt it gripping at me. "Can any of you feel that?" Kris asked, a strange look on her face.

Sierra and Rune had the same puzzling look. "Yeah, it's like I can feel the fused shadow," Rune responded.

"Me, too," added Sierra.

"I can feel it, too," I said. "This is so weird, why can we feel something in a game?"

"I don't know," Rune whispered, seemingly lost in thought.

Link was teleported outside by Midna to Faron's spring. The light spirit told him to head west the the next light spirit like he usually does, but then he continued. _There_, _you will meet the warriors of the prophecy who will guide you to victory. _The screen showed Link's face, and he looked just as confused as we felt. Then the light spirit looked directly at us. _Come. Now is the time for you to begin your journey. _

Suddenly, a powerful wind blew, scattering everything in the living room. "What's happening?" Sierra screamed. Surprisingly, I was calm. I closed my eyes, feeling the wind lift me up into the air. Opening them again, I saw that all my friends were rising into the air as well. We were all brought toward the center of the room, trying our hardest to stay upright as we were tossed around in the wind. I felt someone's hand grab mine, and looked over to see Kris holding mine and Sierra's hands. I grabbed Rune's hand next to me, and she grabbed Sierra's. Now we were all floating in the air, holding hands in a circle. A small ball of light appeared in the middle of the space we had created, and I felt some sort of energy intensify all around us as it grew bigger. It eventually reached us, and I heard a rushing sound. Someone screamed, and I felt myself being jerked violently forward before everything went black.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

A light breeze was gently blowing as I slowly regained consciousness. I felt warmth on my face, and slowly opened my eyes. I was laying at the edge of a large field, with a few hills and trees dotted here and there. The sun was setting behind me in a brilliance of colors. Strange, sunsets weren't usually supposed to be that bright, what with all the air pollution. Confused, I looked more closely around the field, taking in details. It was massive, stretching on for what seemed like miles. The hill I was standing on appeared to be the highest point in the area, so I could see pretty much everything. All of it was beautiful, and it looked strangely familiar.

I sat there for a moment, breathing in the sweet smelling air, before I remembered my friends. Where were they? What had happened to them? I jumped up, looking around again, this time for my friends. I tried calling their names, but there was no answer. I hung my head in despair, and that was when I noticed my clothes. The t-shirt and shorts I had worn to Kris's house were gone. I was now wearing a sleeveless violet tunic, which was being held close to my body with a leather belt. On my legs were white leggings, and a pair of light brown leather boots that went up to my calves. I looked at my arms. On them was a pair of brown gloves with the fingertips cut off, partially covered by dark blue gauntlets that nearly went up to my elbows. Feeling that there was something on my head, I pulled off a round hat that was the same color as my tunic. Putting it back on, I noticed for the first time that there was a sword strapped to my back. I grabbed the hilt, wondering what it looked like, but before I could pull it out I heard a strange noise.

I quickly turned around to see that there was a winding dirt path behind me, carved into the hillside. Straining to listen, I heard the noise again, coming from somewhere further down the pass. It sounded like a faint cry, and it seemed familiar for some reason. Wondering what it was, I started down the path, tense. Rounding a corner, I saw a figure standing in the middle of the road, its back to me. I took a few steps closer, and suddenly it turned around and ran right at me, swinging a club at my head. I instinctively dodged, and saw the thing for what it really was as it passed. It was a bokoblin, a short, blue, troll-like monster from Twilight Princess. It screeched in frustration, and I recognized it as the cry I had heard earlier.

I couldn't believe it! I was being attacked by a monster from a video game in real life! That's when I remembered the sword I had found strapped to my back. Was I really supposed to... I grabbed the hilt again, and drew it out of its sheath. It was a beautiful sword, with a blue hilt and a blade that was a brilliant bright silver, almost white. There was, of course, no time to admire it. This time, when the bokoblin charged, I slashed at it. The sword was perfectly balanced, and the hilt felt like it was made for my hands. The bokoblin jerked back, screeching in pain. I quickly brought my sword back and jabbed it forward, impaling the monster. It fell backwards and exploded into ash.

I sheathed my sword, breathing heavily. Then I laughed aloud. I had always wondered if I would be able to handle myself when confronted with danger, and I found out that I could! I was so excited! But my excitement was cut short when I heard another bokoblin screech, coming from directly behind me. I grabbed my sword, ready for action, but before I could get it all the way out, I felt something hit me in the spine, hard. I fell over, gasping. The bokoblin stood over me, raising its club as I struggled to regain my breath. Screaming, I closed my eyes and put my hands up in a futile attempt to protect myself.

The anticipated blow never came. I heard the monster screech, than explode. A soft boy's voice asked, "Are you okay?"

I opened my eyes. Instead of a monster, standing over me was someone I never thought I'd see in person. It was Link, the Hero of Hyrule. That voice was his voice. I had never heard Link speak before. His voice was softer than I had expected, and full of kindness and concern.

"I-I'm fine," I stuttered.

"Here, let me help you." He stretched out his hand. I grabbed it, and he pulled me up with ease. Wow, he was so strong. It took all of my self-control to keep myself from letting out a fangirl squeal.

"I saw you take out that first monster. Are you a warrior?" he asked.

"Well...sort of," I said. "I know how to fight, I've just...never actually done it before." I really hoped I wasn't blushing.

"You're really good. I've never actually met another swordsman. Well, except for my friend Rusl." He smiled at me. Wow, he really thought I was good. Now I knew I was blushing.

"T-Thanks," I stammered. Link was such a nice person! I had wanted to meet him all my life, but he was just a video game character. Yet there he was, standing in front of me, complimenting my combat skills. A wave of excitement rushed through me.

"Are you traveling alone?" he asked.

"No!" I gasped. My friends! In the excitement of the bokoblin attack and meeting Link, I had forgotten all about them. "I came here with friends, but I don't know where they are! We got separated! Oh my gosh, I hope they're okay!" My voice got higher and louder as I started to panic. Link put his hand on my arm comfortingly.

"Calm down," he said softly. "I'm sure they're alright. I'll help you look for them."

"You will?" I asked. "But you don't even know me."

"Yeah, but I can't just leave you here by yourself. A lot has changed for me recently, but I think it's my job to help people. Don't worry, we'll find them."

I nodded, and my breathing slowed. That's right, he was supposed to become a hero and save everyone. He must know at least a little about his destiny by this point. Wait, this point. This point in the game. Something about this particular moment seemed important, but what? As we started walking across the field, I remembered. This was the part right after he talks to the light spirit. It was also the part where we had stopped playing. The game had gone haywire, and the magical ball of light had transported us here. Finally, something inside me clicked. The strange dreams I'd been having, the messages in the game, the feeling that I knew this place, the bokoblin, Link's existence, it all made sense now. Somehow, we had been transported inside the video game. My friends and I were in Hyrule.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Alright, where do we look first?" I asked Link.

"I don't know, I've never been here before. I've heard about Hyrule Field, but I never expected it to be this big." Oh, right. I had to remember that Link had only just started his adventure, and he wasn't as experienced as I had first thought.

"Well, how about we start looking over..." I was interrupted by a scream. It sounded a lot like..."Sierra!" I yelled out loud, running over to where the sound had come from. Link followed close behind me. Reaching the top of a small hill, I saw her backed up against a dirt wall, cornered by three bokoblins. "I could really use some help here!" she screamed when she saw us. We both immediately charged the monsters. I ran one through from behind, and Link took out the other two with quick slashes. As they exploded, Sierra ran up and hugged me. "Oh man, I was so scared! Thank you so much for saving me! Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Well, I kind of just did what popped into my head. Anyway, I had help," I said, gesturing behind me.

"Thanks... Link?" she said, surprised.

"Yeah, how did you know my name?"

"Its a long story. I'll explain what I know after we find the others," I told him. "C'mon, let's go."

"Wait," Sierra said. "What happened to your clothes?"

"Oh yeah, they're different..." I looked at Sierra again. "So are yours!" She was wearing a white tunic with short sleeves, loose-fitting tan cloth pants, and tan sandals. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail with a strip of brown cloth.

"Aren't they cool? They're more comfortable than I thought they would be."

"Yeah, mine too. They're so easy to move around in!"

"Girls..." Link interrupted.

"Oh, right. Sorry." I said, feeling a little sheepish. "Let's go." We continued walking until we came to a shallow river with a bridge crossing over it. Underneath the bridge, we found Kris beating back a bunch of monsters with a war hammer. Link and I rushed into the water, but Sierra hung back. The two of us joined Kris in the center of the monsters.

"Hi there!" Kris greeted me happily as she whacked a bokoblin on the head, so hard that it crumpled and exploded.

"Hi. You're pretty good with that hammer," I replied, slashing at another bokoblin.

"Thanks! It was with me when I woke up. You're really good with that sword, and that outfit is really cool!"

"Yours, too!" She was wearing a light blue tank top, dark blue shorts, and purple flats.

We finished off the monsters with Link's help, then climbed back onto the bank where Sierra was waiting. "I'm sorry, I should have helped. I had these weird claw things with me, but I have no clue how to use them, or even to put them on," she said, obviously embarrassed.

"It's okay! We had it covered," Kris replied brightly.

"Kris," I said, "I'd like you to meet Link. He saved me from getting smashed by a monster, and now he's helping me find you guys!" Link smiled and held out his hand to Kris. She shook it.

"Nice to meet you!"

"We'd better go look for Rune," Sierra reminded us. We started walking.

"It will be night soon," Link noticed. "We had better find her before it gets dark, or more monsters will come out."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Let's..." I was suddenly interrupted by a monster screech. I smiled. "That'll be her."

Turning towards the source of the sound, we saw Rune standing at the top of a hill in the blaze of the setting sun, surrounded by monsters. Holding a katana in each hand, she spun in a tight circle, felling each of the monsters with quick, well-aimed slashes. Within a few seconds, they were all dead.

"Whoa," Link said, his mouth hanging open. I giggled. We all ran up to Rune as she sheathed her swords.

"You're really good, Rune! Not that that's any surprise, of course," Sierra said, smiling knowingly.

"Heh heh, thanks. You all look different." she noticed.

"We all woke up with different outfits and weapons. Yours is really cool!" Kris exclaimed. Rune was wearing a long, dark hooded cloak with a white tank top, a light grey leather corset and matching knee-length trousers. She also had a darker grey belt around her waist, matching fingerless gloves and boots, and banded, stainless steel sleeves and leggings.

"YES, I love it!" Rune exclaimed. Looking up, she noticed Link standing behind us. "Is that..."

"Yeah, I met Link. He saved my life, and helped fight off the monsters attacking the others!" I said happily. Link looked at his feet, blushing slightly.

"It was nothing, really," he mumbled, suddenly shy. A second later he looked up again. "It's getting really dark, and I don't think that it would be a very good idea to travel at night."

"Well, how about we set up a camp?" Rune suggested.

"Great idea!" I exclaimed. "I'll go find some wood!" Eventually, we got a fire started.

"I'm starving," Rune complained, sitting on the ground between Kris and Link. "What are we going to eat?" I noticed a bag strapped to Sierra's back.

"What's in the bag, Sierra?"

"Oh," she said, smiling. "You're going to love this!" She reached in the bag and pulled out her claw things, some glass bottles filled with a strange red liquid, a few apples, and some type of raw meat.

"Woah," exclaimed Rune, impressed. "How did all that fit in there?"

"I have one of those. They're magic, so they can fit anything you put in them." Link explained.

"Cool!" Rune replied. "Kind of like Mary Poppins's bag, isn't it?"

"Mary who?" Link asked, confused.

"Yeah, and the meat stays cool, so we can cook it whenever we like! Also, the weight is next to nothing, so I guess I can carry all our supplies from now on." Sierra smiled and started handing out the food. Soon, we were all cooking the meat over the fire with some sticks we found.

"So..." Link began. "Who are you guys? Where did you come from?" All the others looked at me.

"I'm still not entirely sure what's going on," said Sierra.

"Me neither," Kris added.

"I have an idea, but I'll just let you explain," Rune put in.

I sighed. "It's going to take a while to explain, so I suggest you all get comfortable."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Basically, this is Hyrule. We are in Hyrule Field, literally inside the game. Remember that ball of light?" The girls nodded. "I think it came from the light spirit. He transported us here so we could... Well, I'm still not entirely sure about that part. I think it may have something to do with the dreams we've been having. The ones about some destiny we're supposed to take part in."

"You guys have had weird dreams? So have I!" Link exclaimed. "Some shadowy figure keeps telling me to fulfill my duty as a hero, or something like that."

"I think that this is all connected," I said. "I think maybe we're supposed to help you in some way, Link."

"Well if that's true, I'd be more than happy to have you all fighting by my side." Link smiled. "But I still don't know where you're from. How did you learn how to fight like that?"

"Well, in simplest terms, we are from another world," I explained. "In our world, we have seen some parts of your history. You know the legends about the heroes of old? We've seen many of them happen. I had no idea up until now that your world was even real, but here we are, and I'm really excited to see it all in person."

"Oh my gosh, I just realized that!" Kris squealed excitedly. "We get to see the lake, and visit the towns, and meet all the people!"

"Oh, yeah! We also get to fight a ton of monsters and become legends... or just regular warriors. Either one is fine by me," Rune put in, shrugging.

"I don't know much about this place, but it sounds awesome!" Sierra added. I smiled.

"To answer your other question, we know how to fight because we've seen others fight, like people in your world. Before today, I'd never even held a real sword, and I don't think the others have either," I said, speaking for everyone. They nodded in agreement. "But somehow, we knew what to do. I don't really know how that works, but I guess it's instinct."

"I didn't know what to do..." Sierra muttered under her breath, crossing her arms.

"Yeah," Rune agreed with me. "I kinda just did what felt natural. But I would also like to add that I _have _used a bow before. Many times. Just putting that out there..."

"I know what you mean. I felt the same way when I first wielded a sword, like it's what I was meant to do." Link said, looking at me.

"That's cool," I replied, yawning.

"We should all get some sleep," Sierra suggested. "It's been a long day, and we'll need energy for tomorrow." Everyone agreed, and we lay down on the grass.

I was exhausted, but I lay awake for a while, looking at the stars. They were a lot brighter than at home, and there were so many! I didn't recognize any constellations, but I kinda figured that they would be different in this world. I thought about home. Would my family wonder where I was? Somehow, I didn't think so. The light spirit that had brought us into the game could probably control enough that by the time the adventure was over, no time would have passed in our world. I have no idea how I knew that, but something told me I was right.

Ever since I woke up in the field, something seemed different about the way I thought. It was almost like something had awoken inside me, guiding me. There was no way I would have been able to react to that monster so quickly before. It sounds really strange, but no stranger than the fact that we had been magically transported inside a video game.

I wondered if Link felt the same way about the hero's spirit inside him. I looked over at him. He was already curled up, sound asleep, his face peaceful. He always seemed a little stressed when he was awake. I guess it was because of all he'd been through already. Before then, I had never really thought about what being a hero must be like. Everyone is depending on you, and if you mess up, there is no second chance. Maybe that was why the light spirit sent us there, I realized. Maybe we were supposed to ease his burden a little, and become friends that he could rely on.

If that was what we would have to do, I'd be ready. I'd love to be Link's friend, and I was sure that my friends would, too. We'd all look after each other, and face whatever trouble came our way, together. I smiled and closed my eyes. This was going to be the adventure of a lifetime.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Darkness surrounded me. I heard someone giggling softly. Opening my eyes, I saw that I was standing alone in an empty street. There seemed to be buildings around me, but they were hidden in fog. It was nighttime, and I could barely see anything. I heard the giggling again, this time right in front of me. It grew louder and more ominous, until it became a chilling laugh that echoed all around me.

"Stop!" I yelled, covering my ears. The laughter stopped, and a figure stepped out of the fog. It was the Dark Me, from my dream the night before. She smiled at me.

"But dear," she began in a falsely sweet voice, "I'm so glad you're finally here! Now we can play!" She giggled insanely, pulling out her knife. This time, I stood my ground. Drawing my sword, I held it up in a defensive position. At this, she started laughing again. "You really think you stand a chance against me now? I'm you. I know all your fears and weaknesses. I can toy with you as long as I want!" She giggled again. "But you'll be fun to battle, once you get better at it. And now that you are here," she stepped closer, until she was right in front of me, her face an inch away from mine, "Now that you're here, I can find you. You may have been safe in your world, but now, I can get you." I stepped back from her, and she laughed again. "I'll see you later!" she said in that fake sweet voice as the world around me started to fade. Her laughter echoed in my head for what seemed like an eternity as I fell deeper into the darkness.

"Wake up, Lily!" I felt someone shaking me, and I jolted awake. "Sorry," Kris said, "but it's morning, and Link says we have to get moving."

I heard Sierra groan from her spot a few feet away. "Why does it have to be so early? Can't we sleep a little longer?"

"We have to get moving. The longer we wait, the more the twilight spreads!" Link replied, rushing to get everything ready.

"How do you know that?" Sierra asked, still half-asleep, but at least up and moving. Link sighed.

"I guess it's time you meet her. Midna!" he called to his shadow. It shifted, then an imp-shaped shadow popped up right in front of Sierra, startling her.

"Finally, you're awake!" Midna said in an annoyed tone. "If you're supposed to be the wielders of the elements, why are you so lazy?"

"Wielders of the _what_?" Rune asked.

"You know, the elemental powers. Haven't you heard the legend?" Midna asked.

"You know about it?" I asked Midna, surprised.

"Uh, yeah. It's very famous where I'm from."

"We can talk about that later, now we need to get moving!" Link was sounding kind of nervous.

"Okay, okay. Calm down!" Midna said, exasperated. "The twilight will wait a few seconds!" We started walking toward the west end of the field, where the entrance was supposed to be. Suddenly, there was a loud shout.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeey!" A man was running toward us as fast as he could. He stopped, panting in front of us. "There is a black wall ahead that blocks the way forward! I have been unable to reach my destination in those areas."

"Uhh, who are you?" Rune asked, while giving him a weird look.

"I am the postman. I deliver the mail all over Hyrule. I have a letter for all of you." He held out a red envelope to Link, who happened to be in front of him. "Well, that concludes my business. Onward to mail!" He took off running again.

"That was random," Sierra said, confused. I laughed.

"I forgot about that guy. What does the letter say, Link?"

"It just says to not run away if he approaches us at high speed." He put the letter in his pouch. "That was pointless. Let's go." We contained walking, until the we saw the black wall ahead of us. As we approached it, the air around us got colder, and the light faded. Midna floated toward the wall.

"I'll have to bring you in one at a time. Without my help, you can't get through. You ready?" she said to Link. He nodded, and she floated through the wall. Suddenly, a glowing hand reached through, and violently grabbed him. I heard someone scream in surprise behind me, I think it was Sierra. Rune stepped toward the wall.

"You heard Midna, we can't get through without her," I reminded Rune.

"Yeah, I know," she mumbled. She seemed sort of dazed as she reached the wall, and kept walking toward it. She put her hand on it, and walked right through!

"Whoa!" Kris said, startled. "If she can get through, than we probably can too!" She walked toward the wall, and smacked right into it. Sierra and I tried, and we couldn't get through either.

"Why did..." I began, but a hand reached out and grabbed my arm. It sharply jerked me through the wall. On the other side, I looked around briefly at the twilight, before I felt a sharp pain all over my body. I fell to the ground as the pain grew. It felt like my entire body was being pushed in and reshaped. I let out a scream, and I blacked out again.

I felt something nudge me in the side.

_Wake up. We're in the twilight._ Link's voice called out to me through the blackness, and my head cleared. I was laying on the ground, and there was a wolf standing over me. It nudged me again with its nose, and I tried to get up. I stumbled around for a bit, then fell to the ground again. My body felt completely different. I looked down at my hands, but they weren't there. Instead, there was a pair of yellow paws. I looked at the rest of my body, and saw more yellow fur, and a tail. Confused, I stood up again, this time on my four paws. Link spoke again. _Lily, it's me. We all turned into animals when we entered the twilight._ Now I recognized the wolf standing over me. It was Link as the wolf he became in the twilight. He was a lot bigger than me, however. I open my mouth to speak, but all that came out was a bark. I shook my head, and felt my ears flopping around. I must be some sort of dog, probably a yellow lab judging by my size and appearance. _How do I talk? _I wondered.

_Just like that. _Link's voice sounded amused.

_You can read my mind?_ I thought, a little nervous.

_Only the thoughts you direct toward me. Don't worry,_ he said laughing, _I won't hear what you don't want me to hear._ I breathed a sigh of relief. I looked around.

_Where are the others? _I mentally asked.

_I'm over here! _Sierra called out. I looked over, and saw a silver-furred wolf, bigger than me but a bit smaller than Link.

_Wow, you're pretty!_ I told her.

_Thanks! If you don't mind me saying, you look adorable as a dog! _Instead of smiling, like I usually would to a complement, my tail started wagging.

_This is so weird! _I laughed. A grey snake slithered over to us.

_Hi there!_ Kris said happily. _This is fun!_ I laughed.

_Where's Rune? _I asked.

_Over there_. Sierra pointed with her nose. Rune was sitting on the ground, looking at her hands. Wait, hands? Rune was still a human!


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I walked over to Rune.

"Is that you Lily?" she asked me. I nodded my head. "Aw, you look cute!" She patted my head. It felt weird, but kind of nice as a dog. Deciding to go along with it, I wagged my tail and licked her hand, and she laughed. As she did, I saw that her canines looked slightly longer and sharper than usual, like Midna's fang. Looking at her skin, I noticed that it had a light blueish tint. Her green eyes had turned a light brown, and her hair had gotten darker. I tilted my head to the side while looking at her. "Yeah, I know," she said. "I look different. I wonder what it means?"

"I don't know, but you look cooler like that!" Midna replied from her place on Link's back.

_Yeah, I kinda like it! _Sierra said.

"Yeah, I kinda like it!" Rune said the exact same thing as Sierra.

_What?_ I wondered. _Can she even hear us?_

_I don't know_, Sierra thought. _Hey Rune! There's a Kathryn with dynamite behind you!_ Rune continued talking with Midna. _Yeah, she definitely can't hear us_.

Link walked over to us. _We need to get moving to bring the light back. In the other twilight realm, I had to collect these things called tears of light. They're scattered all over the twilight area, so we should hurry if we're going to find them all._

_Yeah, _I agreed. _It'll go faster if we split up._

_That's what I was thinking, _he replied. He jumped forward, almost jerking Midna off his back.

"Wahhh!" she screamed. "I almost fell off! What's wrong with you, I was in the middle of talking!" He looked back at her and whined. "Oh, right. You want to get all the tears and bring light back to this place. Hmm, how should we do this?" she wondered aloud.

"We could split into pairs," Rune suggested.

"Good idea! I'll go with Link, since he's my servant," Link growled slightly at Midna's words, "and you can go with the dog! The wolf and snake will make a good team."

"The dog is Lily, I'm guessing the wolf is Sierra, and that leaves Kris as the snake." Rune reminded her of our names.

"Whatever. Let's see... I don't know this place very well, where should we go?" Midna wondered.

_Me and Sierra can go up the mountain and get the tears there!_ Kris volunteered.

_Good idea! You can... _They both ran off before I could finish my sentence. _Well, they seem excited, _I said to Link, and he laughed. Suddenly, he stopped, and smelled the air. _What is it?_ I asked.

_I smell something familiar... _He walked around a little, and I followed him. Rune, confused, follow both of us.

"Where are you going?" Midna asked him. He stopped, and I walked up and stood next to him. In front of us was a broken wooden sword. I sniffed it. It had the scent of humans, but it reminded me a bit of the forest. Wait, how did I know that? I breathed in deeper, and so many smells flooded my senses, it was almost overwhelming. I could smell the grass beneath us, the nearby monsters, and the others around me. Link smelled similar to the scent of the sword, so I figured it must have been his. Now, I remember, it was his sword in the beginning of the game, and how the scent of the village children was on it.

_We can use this scent to track them, _I suggested to him.

_Yeah, _he mumbled, not really hearing me. He must have been thinking about the children. Sierra and Kris came up to us.

_Umm, we're kind of farther from the village than I thought, _Kris said. _The bridge is out, so we can't get across._

_Oh, right._ I remembered. Why was I forgetting so many details?

"Hey, the bridge is out, we can't get across," Midna unknowingly repeated. We all laughed, except Rune, who couldn't hear us. "There might be something that can help us in the light world. I can take you back there," Midna said to us. We nodded. "I can only take one other person at a time though, so it might take awhile to get you all there."

"We can stay here," Rune said.

"Alright. See you later!" Midna and Link disappeared into black squares.

"So, I figured you guys need to learn how to fight as an animal. We can practice while they're gone," Rune told us.

_Cool, _I thought. Before we got a chance to practice, though, a twilight monster charged up to us. It headed straight for Rune, who was turned away. Thinking quickly, I ran up to it and jumped on its back. I bit it in the back of the neck, and it fell down, dead. _Ewwwwwwww! _I mentally screamed. _That was disgusting!_

_It worked though, _Sierra said.

_Hey, I got one! _Kris called out to us. I _think my fangs are poisonous, it went down when I bit it in the foot! _A bird dived down at us, but Sierra jumped up and latched onto it with her teeth. It fell to the ground and disintegrated.

"Wow, nice move Sierra!" Rune said, impressed.

_I know you can't hear me, but thanks! _Sierra replied. Suddenly, a cloud of black squares appeared in the sky. They formed a huge bridge that dropped down over the chasm. Link and Midna appeared on it. Midna looked a little dizzy.

"It's a lot harder than I thought, moving something that big," she panted.

"At least we can cross now," Rune said. "C'mon guys, lets get going. I'm bored of watching you guys fight, I wanna take out some monsters!" We laughed, and started crossing the field. Rune ran ahead and took out most of the monsters. Link and the others took out the rest. No way was I biting any more of those things! I could still taste the monsters blood. Shuddering, I quietly followed the others.

_You guys got used to your forms real fast!_ Link said. _It took me forever to figure out how to manage as a wolf._

_I've always wanted to be a wolf, _Sierra said. _Getting used to it is easy!_ We arrived at a large gate, covered in what looked like blood.

_Yuck, _I thought.

"Looks like you can dig your way under," Midna told us. "You'll have to climb, Rune. Let them go first so they can get rid of the monsters." She flipped into Link's shadow while he dug under. Me and Sierra dug in after him, and Kris slithered in through the small space we made. Midna returned to Link's back as he killed the first monster. Kris bit the others leg before it could notice us, and they both fell dead. Rune climbed over the gate and jumped down in front of us. We all walked together into the village.

At the entrance, there was a group of three shadow beasts. As we walked into the group, a magic barrier fell down around us, locking us in.

_This will be a lot easier with six of us, _Link said. _Alright, Midna will get the one on the far side, Rune and Kris, you take care of the one in the middle, and Lily and Sierra get the one closest to us. If two people hit it at the same time, it should kill the beast. On my signal, we all attack at once. Ready?_

_Ready! _We all said, excluding Rune and Midna. Kris motioned for Rune to follow her with her tail, and Link carried Midna to the far side.

_Ready? Now!_ He barked, and everyone attacked, except me. I hesitated, dreading the thought of the awful taste again. Our shadow beast threw Sierra off, and screeched. The sound was awful, we were all paralyzed as the other beasts got up.

_What happened?_ Link asked me.

_I'm sorry! I hesitated, I couldn't do it! I hate biting them, its awful! But I'll do it this time! _I promised.

_It's okay, I understand. But we need everyone to do this, okay? I'll figure out another way later._

_Thank you! I won't hesitate this time. _We got ready again, and on Link's bark, we all attacked. The monsters fell, and the squares they exploded into formed into a portal above our heads. The barriers lifted, and we all sighed in relief.

"Do you guys hear that?" Rune asked. "Listen... It sounds like a song." We were silent, and I heard it. A lament, both beautiful and sorrowful.

_That must be the light spirit, _Link said. We walked up to the spring, and saw a few glimmers of light hovering above it.

_Heroes..._ the light said, _I am one if the light spirits. My light was taken from me by the insects of darkness. Gather my tears, gather them in this... _A flower shaped vessel appeared in front of us, and Midna grabbed it. _Beware..._ it said, _the darkness has gotten stronger. It is far more powerful than it was. Be careful._

"We will," Rune said. "And don't worry, we'll get your light back."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Well, we have the vessel, we know where we're going, so let's get moving!" Midna hurried us up. Kris and Sierra went off to death mountain, while the rest of us went into the village. Link was walking next to me, with Rune behind us, when he stopped short. He sniffed the air. _I smell the kids! _he said excitedly. _They're in that building! _He walked over to a round building with a bell on top.

_How do we get up there?_ I wondered.

_Midna can help me, but I don't know about you. _I thought about it.

_Oh, Rune! She's still a human, so she can just open the door! _ I walked up to her, and nudged her leg.

"What is it?" she asked, looking down at me. I walked over to the door, and scratched at it. "You want me to open it?" I nodded. "Okay." She opened the door, and Link and I walked inside. She followed behind us. "I don't see anything except those glowing blue things," she said. "Wait, are those spirits?"

"Yeah," Midna answered her. "Those are what people become in the twilight. Except for Link, because he's the 'chosen one' or whatever. I'm guessing destiny has something to do with the others turning into animals, but I'm not sure about you."

Link walked closer to the spirits. _Colin? Beth? Lily, they're all here! The kids from my village! I don't know if you can sense them... _I focused on the spirits, and suddenly I could make out human figures. I stepped closer to listen. The bomb shop guy was talking about the monsters, about how some lady running the general store was attacked by a monster.

"One monster went in , and when they got there, two was waitin'! You know what that means? If we get attacked by those things, we'll be..."

"BARNES!" Renado yelled. Beth burst into tears. Link looked so upset; his head and tail hung low. Even I felt afraid for the kids.

"Don't cry Beth." Colin tried reassuring her, but she jerked away from him. "Link will save us!" She stopped crying, and Link jerked his head up. "He will, I can feel it!" Link had an expression of pure pride and gratitude as his young friend reassured the others that they would be rescued. Renado mentioned that there was a cellar that would open when all the candles in the room were lit. Barnes started frantically dashing around with a lit stick, but Renado's daughter, Luda, warned him about the bugs in the cellar. I looked at Rune. She was listening intently to the spirits' conversation.

"We should split up here. Midna, you and Link can get the tears in the houses outside, and Lily and I can gets the bugs in the cellar and other various places. With Kris and Sierra at the mountain, that should cover all of them." She opened the door, and Link and Midna went outside.

_Bye! _I called to them. Link looked back at me and wagged his tail once. After they left, Rune turned to me.

"I could see and hear the spirits," she told me. "I don't know how, but I know how to open the cellar." She grabbed one of the sticks and lit it on fire. "It'll save time if we both do it. I'll start from this end, and you come from that end and we'll meet in the middle." I nodded, and grabbed the other stick in my mouth. I had to tilt my head a little to light it; I was almost too small to reach it. I jumped across the platforms, lighting the candles as the burning stick touched them. A huge statue in the center of the room moved once all the candles were lit. The spirits looked confused.

"Is this the work of those monsters?" Renado wondered about loud.

"We'd better go down and get rid of the bugs, in case they need to come down for shelter," Rune pointed out. I nodded in agreement, and we both jumped down.

Sierra and Kris reached the bottom of the path leading to the mountain. _How are we going to get up?_ Kris asked.

_Hmmm... I think I can jump up there, but I don't know about you._ Sierra replied.

_I know! I'll wrap myself around your body, not tight of course, and you can jump up with me!_

_Good idea!_ Kris wrapped around Sierra, and she jumped up.

_Great! We can just do that every time! _said Kris. They started up the mountain path. After a few minutes, they reached an area where the path widened out. A few geysers were scattered on the ground, shooting air up at different intervals. _Watch out for those, _Kris warned. _They'll __k__nock you over pretty easily._

_What's this? _Sierra walked over to a stone sticking out of the ground. It had a round hole in the middle, and it was making a strange whistling noise. _The whistling... It sounds like a song._

_Oh, I remember those!_ Kris said. _They're called howling stones. You stand next to them and howl the songs that it plays. I think they help you learn the next hidden skill. Try it! You're a wolf, you can howl the songs!_ Sierra walked over to the stone. She closed her eyes and listened to the tune. Sitting back, she lifted her head and howled the first tune perfectly. As the last notes stopped echoing, she collapsed on the ground. _Are you okay? _Kris frantically asked her. There was no answer.

Sierra got up from where she had fallen. She was no longer on the mountain path. A patch of earth floated above a mist-covered land. On it was the golden wolf from before. Looking down, she saw that she was standing on a patch of land too. Near her was a tall, fiery mountain. She looked at the wolf again, and he seemed to speak to her. _Howl with me..._ She remembered the song from before. She started howling it again, more of the song that she had not heard coming out of her mouth. Sierra had no idea where the notes were coming from, but she kept howling them. The other wolf raised its head, and their notes blended together in perfect harmony. The song sounded beautiful, yet sad. As the last notes faded away, the golden wolf spoke to Sierra. _Let teachings of old pass to you... All who are worthy, take sword in hand and find me..._ The wolf jumped off of the cliff, and Sierra's world faded to black.

Sierra got up, shaking her head. She was back on the mountain. Kris was coiled up nearby, watching her. _You're awake! _Kris said excitedly. _I thought something bad had happened to you! What happened? Why did you black out?_

_I was on a floating patch of land, _she said dreamily. _The golden wolf was there, and we howled a song together. It was the most beautiful thing I ever heard!_

_Oh, now I remember! _Kris said. _When you howl the song with the wolf, held waits for you to come to him so he can teach you another skill._

_So there are more of those stones?_

_Yep!_

_Wow, I want to do that again! I hope we find another one soon!_

_Don't worry, _laughed Kris. _We'll find another one sometime soon! Let's keep going, I want to get the tears so we can meet up with the others!_

_Okay. _Sierra and Kris continued up the path, as the others also searched for tears, in their quest to restore light to the land.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Link jumped on top of the bug, killing it. "Great, just a few more! Be careful next time, you almost made me fall off again!" Midna reprimanded Link, and he rolled his eyes. "Don't give me any of that, mister! Remember, you did agree to be my servant in exchange for my help!" Link mentally sighed.

_I hope we catch up with the others soon. I wonder how they're doing…_

"Ow!" I landed on top of Rune and she yelled. I got off, mentally apologizing even though I knew she couldn't hear me. Looking up at her, I tried my best to let her know I was sorry. "I'm fine," she reassured me. "At least you're only a dog now. If you were your full size, that would have hurt a lot more!" Rune laughed. I wagged my tail at her, and we got up to look around. The cellar below the sanctuary was very cool, and a lot more moist than the air outside. The walls of earth surrounded us, making the space seem pretty small. Slightly claustrophobic, I ran up ahead to where I saw a bigger space. "You okay?" Rune asked me. I nodded. "Well, I can see the spirits but I can't seem to find the bugs. You'll have to let me know where they are, unless you want to kill them." I vigorously shook my head, and started sensing for the bugs. One was on the wall, so I smacked into it and the bug flew off. "I can see the electric stuff it's letting off!" Rune exclaimed. She slashed at the bug with her sword, and it fell to the ground, sliced in half. The tear flew out as it disintegrated, and I walked over to collect it. The tear was beautiful, it really looked like a floating drop of water, letting off a bright blue light. As soon as I touched it, the water flowed over me and I absorbed the tear. I sensed the next bug on the ground ahead of us. I ran over to it, but the bug ran toward me at the same time. I tried to stop, but I stepped on the bug and squished it. As I absorbed the tear, I frantically wiped my paw on the ground, trying to get rid of the goo from the bug. Rune laughed as I finally got most of it off.

We reached the scaffolding at the other end of the cellar. "Hmmm... I can climb that pretty easily, but I don't know about you. Can you jump?" Rune asked me. After studying the wooden structure, I stepped back to get a running start. I quickly jumped up the wooden supports, knowing where the strong parts were. When I reached the top, I barked down at Rune, signaling her to follow me. "Wow, impressive!" She climbed up, slower than I had, and we both climbed out into a graveyard.

The graveyard had a strangely peaceful atmosphere. There were a few twilight bats, but Rune took them out pretty quickly. I searched around for bugs, and found two of them crawling around. One dug under the ground, but I chased the other one around the graveyard, weaving in between gravestones. Finally, I cornered it, and it crashed right into a headstone. Rune brought her sword down where I pointed, and killed it. I searched around for the other one, Rune right next to me. I saw movement underground, and I dug where I saw it. It surfaced in a blur of electric sparks, and Rune stabbed it. I collected both tears, and we walked outside the graveyard. We were back outside the sanctuary. I saw Link and Midna in the village, digging under one of the houses to get inside. "Let's see... We got the sanctuary, the graveyard, the houses, and death mountain. There's one other place I think I'm forgetting." Rune said to me. I remembered the house that Link and Midna blew up in the game. _I don't think they've gotten it yet._ I thought. I nudged Rune, and started up the path that led to the bomb storage. "Where are you going? Did you remember where the last few are?" I barked for her to follow me, and kept going. I trotted up to the building, and turned around to wait for her. She eventually caught up, panting. "Slow...down...I can't...keep up with you...you're too fast as a dog," Rune gasped. I waited while she caught her breath, and then she opened the door. Inside were a bunch of boxes and a fireplace. A few sticks were burning in the corner. "I bet the bugs are in that hollow above the fireplace! We can smoke them out!" She grabbed one of the sticks. _Wait!_ I yelled, but she didn't hear me, and lit the fireplace. The bugs caught on fire, and started frantically flying around the shop. They bumped into the boxes, and the gunpowder in them lit. A few explosions went off as the storage building became an inferno. _You pyromaniac!_ I yelled, but of course she didn't hear me. Rune's eyes grew wide, and she started running for the door. I saw a small hole leading out of the building closer to me, so I ran into it and crawled as fast as I could. When I got outside, I saw Rune open the door and run. I ran up to her, and we both charged away from the building. I heard a massive explosion behind us, and felt a wave of heat. When Rune and I stopped and looked back, all that was left of the shed was a few blackened stones in a pile, and three tears floating above them.

Kris and Sierra had finally collected all the tears, dodging monsters and falling rocks all the way. They had reached the end of the mountain path when they heard a loud bang.

_What was that?_ Kris wondered.

_I don't know, but we should probably go check it out,_ Sierra replied. They both ran toward the village.

Rune and I were panting, looking at the wreckage, when Link and Midna ran up to us.

"What did you guys do!?" Midna shouted at us.

"Heh heh, well..." Rune started to explain what happened when Sierra and Kris came running up.

_Are you guys okay?_ Sierra asked me.

_Yeah, _I laughed. _We kinda blew up this building though._

_Ha ha, I remember that part. _Kris laughed. _So you guys got the last tears?_

_Not yet, they're still over there_. I motioned to the wreckage. Link, who was standing there listening the whole time, walked up to the wreckage.

"Hey..." Midna started. "Oh, right! The last tears!" Link walked up to them, and then all the tears we had collected floated toward Midna. She got out the vessel, which already had a few tears in it. All the tears floated into the vessel, and it glowed with a bright light, blinding us.

When I opened my eyes, I was standing in the light spirits spring. The vessel floated into the water, and the black flecks of twilight faded. A drop appeared in the water, and the light spirit floated out. A great eagle formed, and began to speak to us. ._Thank you, young warriors. You have successfully restored light to my domain. My name is Eldin. I am grateful to all of you, hero and wielders of the elements._ I smiled. Hearing a great light spirit of Hyrule express his gratitude to us made me feel like a real hero. I looked to the right and left. Standing next to me was Link and my friends, all in their human forms. Looking down at my hands, I was relieved to see that I was back to normal. Well, except for the clothes I had in this land. The light spirit continued. _I'm sure by this point you know why you were brought into this world. Legends tell of four young warriors, united in love for this land. These children will be brought from another world, and it is they that are destined to receive the four sources of elemental magic._

"What do you mean by 'sources'?" I asked.

_It is said that the four elements, earth, fire, water, and air, all come from a source. This 'source' is a form of concentrated magic, and it was divided into the four elements long ago. The sources of the elements are hidden all throughout Hyrule, and they will only appear to those worthy to wield them. Two of the sources are here in my domain._

"Where?" Rune asked excitedly.

_I cannot tell you. It is up to you to discover them for yourself. Go to the place you feel most drawn to._

"How will we know which element belongs to who?" Sierra asked.

_You will know_. The light spirit seemed to smile. _Go now, warriors. There are some people who wish to meet you._ Link brightened up at this.

"You mean the kids from my village? They're okay?" Eldin only smiled, and disappeared into the spring.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The door to the sanctuary opened, and Colin poked his head out. "Link?" He smiled and opened the door all the way. He rushed out, but the other kids came behind him and knocked him over. "Link!" The other children laughed and ran up to him. Feeling sorry for him, I walked over to Colin.

"Are you alright?" I asked, stretching out my hand to help him up.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Who are you?" he asked me, as he took my hand. I pulled him up.

"My name is Lily." We walked over to where the other children and my friends were.

"Colin!" Link hugged the younger child. "I'm so glad you're all okay!" The kids smiled, and Talo spoke up.

"Why do you have a bunch of girls with you Link?" Me and my friends laughed at the shocked look on Link's face.

"We're from another world," Rune began.

"Yeah, we were sent here by the light spirits!" Kris added.

"We met up with Link," Sierra said.

"And now we're traveling with him, helping him fight monsters and stuff," I finished explaining.

"Cool!" Talo exclaimed, and we laughed again.

"What are your names?" Beth asked us.

"I'm Lily, this is Sierra, Kris, and Rune," I said, pointing to each of my friends. Talo walked up to Rune.

"You look weird. Why are you blue?"

"Talo! You can't just walk up to someone and say that they're weird!" Beth scolded him. Rune laughed.

"It's okay, I don't care if I look weird. In fact, I like it, " she said. Talo smiled.

"I like you!" Everyone laughed, especially Rune.

"I like you too, squirt," she replied, tapping him lightly on the forehead.

Renado walked up to Link. "So, you are the one the children spoke of. I am Renado, shaman of this village. This is my daughter, Luda." The young girl smiled and waved at us. "Are these girls your friends?" Link smiled and nodded.

"They helped me get rid of the twilight."

"I thank you all for your courage and sacrifice. We owe our lives to you." He bowed, and the children followed his example. I felt myself blushing, and smiled at them. I bowed back, and so did my friends next to me. Renado straightened up. "Times have been hard lately. The gorons of Death Mountain have been acting strange. They are usually on friendly terms with the village, but they have become secretive, not letting anyone in their mine."

"Strange," said Sierra quietly. "They seemed fine when we saw them."

"What did you say?" Renado asked her.

"Nothing," she quickly said. "I just think it's kind of strange."

"Yes, it is. It seems as though some dark power has invaded their domain."

"That sounds like the fused shadow," Link leaned over and whispered to me. He said out loud, "Do you know the way into their mines?"

"You're not saying you mean to go there?" Renado said, shocked.

"Yes," Rune replied. "There is something we need in there."

"Well, I would not advise it, but you all seem capable." Renado smiled. "Do not worry about that for now. You have all done so much already. Anything in our village, you are welcome to." He walked back inside the sanctuary. The children ran off, full of energy after having been stuck in the sanctuary for so long. I sighed.

"We can't wait, we need to get up the mountain soon."

"Why?" asked Kris.

"I'm guessing one of the elements is up there. The mountain is the center of power in Eldin, there's got to be something there."

"Well, let's go!" Rune said, and started running toward the mountain path. Link smiled and followed her.

"Wait up!" I laughed, and we ran after them.

When we finally caught up, Rune and Link were already climbing up the ropes leading to the beginning of the path. "Guys, wait!" I shouted. I knew the gorons wouldn't be too happy with seeing them. I heard a shout.

"Humans! Humans are not allowed in our domain!" A rumbling sound followed, and a crash. Link fell over the edge and hit the ground hard, Rune following a second later. They both got up slowly, groaning.

"That didn't work too well," Link said.

"Yeah, no kidding," Rune agreed. I tried not to laugh.

"I told you guys to wait."

"A bit late, don't you think?"

"Well, what do we do now?" Kris asked.

"Maybe they'll talk with us, and we can work something out!" Sierra suggested.

"Somehow I doubt that," Rune mumbled, rubbing her back where she fell.

"Well, lets go inside first. It's hot outside!" Kris suggested. We all agreed. The sun was just starting to go down as we left toward the village. Renado was waiting for us at the entrance to the mountain path.

"There you are! The children said you had left, and I wanted to make sure you were all unhurt. As you know by now, the gorons will not let anyone pass."

"But we need to get past them!" Link said, his voice slightly louder than usual. "Is there any way?"

"Well..." Renado said hesitantly, "There is one who knew a secret to getting past the gorons. You know him, Link. He is the mayor of Ordon, also known as Bo. Perhaps he can help you."

"Okay! Thanks!" Link ran off, and we followed him.

"Where are you going?" I asked him.

"Back to Ordon. Bo is my friend, and if he's able to help us, I need to go see him. It will be a long walk back to Ordon, so I need to get started right away."

"But you can't go by yourself! Ordon is at least a day's walk away, and you could get attacked when you stop to sleep!" Rune said. It wasn't like her to get so visibly worried about something.

"Then I won't sleep. We need to get this done! The longer we wait, the more the twilight spreads!" he yelled.

"You can't just not sleep!" Rune yelled back. "Do you think you're invincible or something? Eventually, you'll collapse from exhaustion!"

"Guys, calm down. Link, Rune's right. You can't just rush off without thinking. We're here to help you. You don't have to do everything by yourself anymore," I said in a calm tone. Link still seemed anxious. "Take a deep breath, and just calm down." I told him. He did, and seemed to relax. "Now, let's at least head back to the village. Don't worry, we'll think of something," I reassured him. He looked down at his feet.

"I...thank you," he said quietly. "I don't know what I was thinking. I shouldn't have just charged out there, and I definitely shouldn't have yelled at you, Rune. If you hadn't stopped me, I might have gotten killed."

"Don't worry about it," Rune told him. "I understand that your world is in danger and you want to do everything you can to help. But, like Lily said, we're here to help you." Link smiled.

We walked into the village. I heard a faint thumping noise, and I turned around. Behind me, galloping at full speed was Link's horse, Epona! She had a few monsters on her back, but she shook them off and they exploded into ashes. The others heard her and turned around also. "Epona!" Link shouted in happiness. Epona, however, didn't seem to notice us, and kept on charging. We scattered in all directions as she came thundering through.

"Hey!" Rune called, and jumped on Epona.

"Rune! What are you doing?" I yelled.

"I dunno, maybe trying to stop her from trampling you guys?" She held on for a few seconds, but Epona shook her off.

"Stop!" Link yelled, "you're scaring her!"

"Well, what do you think we should do?" Rune shouted back from the ground, exasperated.

"Let me calm her down. She knows me," he said, then he ran and jumped on Epona. She reared up, and he almost fell off. She hit the ground running, and he struggled to hold on.

"Go with it Link!" I shouted. "Don't try to fight her, let her go where she wants and hold on!" He couldn't respond, so I hoped he had heard me. Epona veered left and right, trying to shake off her rider, but Link held on with determination. He leaned forward, and seemed to speak to his horse. Gradually, she slowed down, and stopped trying to buck him off. She stopped, and Link patted the side of her neck. We ran up to them.

"Wow, that was amazing! Link, you're really good at horse wrangling!" Kris said. He smiled shyly.

"Show off," Rune muttered off to the side, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. Link didn't seem to hear her.

"It wasn't really that bad. She just needed to know there was nothing to be afraid of."

"This is great!" Sierra said. "You can ride your horse back to the village!"

"In the morning though, it's almost night time!" I said, just now noticing.

"Right, we need a place to sleep," Rune said. "Any ideas?"

"Renado probably knows a good place," Kris suggested.

"Okay! Let's go ask him!" Sierra started walking over to him. "Excuse me, but do you know any place where we can all stay for the night?"

"Of course," he said. "You are welcome to sleep wherever you like. Most of the houses are abandoned anyway. There is an inn right over there, I think there is enough room for all of you."

"Thank you!" Sierra ran back over to us. "You heard him, we have a whole building to ourselves!" Me and the other girls screamed in delight and ran toward the inn.

"Party time!" I yelled, as the others laughed. Link looked confused, but followed us inside. I was totally excited about a night of fun with my friends, and this time, Link would be joining us!


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Inside the inn, there was a bar with a bunch of food and drink behind it, a table in the middle of the room, and a large stairway leading to a platform that was the second floor. "This is so cool!" I exclaimed. "There's food and everything we need for a sleepover!"

"What's a sleepover?" Link asked. I remembered that this was basically medieval times, and explained it to him.

"A sleepover is when a bunch of friends go to someone's house, or in this case an inn, and they stay up really late and do fun stuff!"

"Okay... That sounds kinda fun," he said.

"You bet it's fun! We get to do anything in this place!" Rune said excitedly.

"I hope some of the food is still good," Sierra said, walking behind the bar. I followed her.

"Let's see, there's some bread, dried meat, ooh honey! And some hot sauce? I didn't know hylians had hot sauce."

"What would we even put it on?" Kris wondered aloud. I shrugged.

"Oh well, I'm starving! Let's bring all this to the table," I said to Sierra. We grabbed a little of everything and set it on the small table.

"I don't think we're all going to fit at the table," Sierra said.

"I can sit on the stairs," Rune suggested.

"Cool! I'll sit with you!" I brought some food over to the bottom step. Everyone started eating.

"Hmmm... I wonder what bread tastes like with hot sauce," Rune wondered.

"I don't really like spicy stuff, but you go ahead and try it!" I replied. She spread the sauce in a small slice of bread, and took a big bite. Before she could even react,I handed her a glass of water next to me.

"Thanks!" she panted, and gulped it down. "That's actually pretty good!" She finished the slice of bread, but she still drank lots of water. I made a meat sandwich with the dried meat and bread, and then put some honey on it. It was very yummy, although a few people looked at me funny.

"What? I really like honey!" I said, and they all laughed. After we were finished eating, we went upstairs to a small room lit with oil lamps. It looked very cozy.

"There are only three beds," Sierra noticed. "Some of us will have to sleep on the floor."

"I will!" Rune immediately volunteered. "I love sleeping on the floor!"

"Okay! The rest of you can have the beds, and I'll sleep on the floor," I also volunteered.

"You don't have to sleep on the floor, I'm sort of used to it by now," Link said.

"Well, if you've been sleeping on the ground so much, you should at least get to sleep in a bed for one night," I contradicted.

"But you're... Well, a girl. I should let you have the bed."

"You don't have to act like a gentleman all the time!"

"Guys," Sierra stopped us. "You don't need to argue about it."

"She's right," Link said. "You just sleep in the bed, and don't worry about me."

"Fine," I sighed. I flopped down on the bed, and a cloud of dust flew up. I jumped up and started coughing. "I guess no one's been here in awhile. I'll bring the blankets outside and shake them out."

"I'll help!" Kris volunteered. We went outside, and started shaking the blankets out. We ended up smacking each other with them, and getting them even dirtier. Sierra and Rune came out and helped us redo them, and then we went back inside. We spread them back on the beds, and put some on the floor for Link and Rune. Everyone lay down in their beds, or on the floor. After a few seconds of silence, I spoke up.

"I'm not tired."

"Me neither," Kris agreed.

"What should we do?" Sierra asked.

"Let's play Truth or Dare!" Rune suggested, and we all enthusiastically agreed. We all sat in a circle on the floor. Link sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"What's truth or dare?"

"Basically, someone asks you 'truth or dare?' and you have to pick one. If you choose truth, then you have to answer any question they ask you truthfully, and you you pick dare, then you have to do whatever they tell you to do!" I explained. He still looked confused.

"Why?" he asked.

"Cause it's fun!" I giggled. "I'll go first to show you how it works."

"Truth or dare?" Rune asked me.

"Dare."

"Alright, hmm... You have to find the dustiest shelf, and lick it! Without wiping it off!" All the girls in the room giggled, while Link looked kind of shocked. I laughed nervously.

"Okay, here goes." I walked up to a shelf that clearly hadn't been used in forever, and licked it. Everyone laughed as I coughed and spat dust out of my mouth.

"Alright Kris, your turn! Truth or Dare?" I asked

"Hmm, how about truth?"

"Okay, umm... Oh, how do you like battling monsters so far?

"It's cool! I love smashing everything with my hammer, and biting them as a snake is fun too!" I laughed.

"Cool! I think it's gross, though."

"Oh, is that why you hesitated when we were killing the twilight beasts?" Rune asked. "I thought you just tripped or something and missed your chance."

"Yeah," I said sheepishly, "I don't like the taste of monster blood."

"Neither do I, but you get used to it after a while," Link reassured me. I smiled.

"Rune's turn!" Kris said happily. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare!" Rune said confidently.

"Okay, you have to... Take a drink out of the bottle of hot sauce downstairs!"

"You got it!" She ran downstairs, grabbed the bottle, and came back up. "Cheers!" I giggled as she took a sip and almost spit it out, her eyes watering like crazy. She swallowed and gasped, "This... is... nothing!" She squeezed her eyes shut and drank the whole bottle, tears streaming down her face. Everyone was watching wide eyed. "Ahhh, oh my gosh I need water!" Rune screamed, and ran back downstairs. Coming back up with a huge bottle of water, she drank the whole thing. She finally stopped, gasping for air. All the girls laughed, me and Kris rolling on the floor. Link looked at Rune with a concerned face.

"Are you alright?" he said, actually worried.

"Yeah, yeah I am. Thanks for asking Link." She smiled at him, and he actually blushed.

_Awww! _I thought. "Alright," I said out loud, "your turn Link! Truth or Dare?" I said dramatically, trying hard not to giggle.

"Don't pick dare!" Sierra shouted. "You will regret it!"

"Okay," he said, nervous, "truth." I was slightly disappointed, but I still knew a way to embarrass him. I smiled.

"Do you have a crush on Ilia?" I asked.

"What?" he said, shocked.

"You have to answer!" I giggled. Everyone was laughing as his face turned pink.

"Umm, well, I...I kinda like her, but she's more like my sister. I've been friends with her my whole life, but I don't have a crush on her..." His face was bright red by this point, and everyone was laughing even harder.

"Okay, I'm sorry," I said, still laughing a little.

"Yeah, leave him alone guys," Rune said. "Alright, now you ask Sierra, Link."

"Um, truth or dare?" he asked.

"Truth, I guess," Sierra replied.

"Umm, what do you like most about being a wolf?"

"Woah, I dunno, there's just so much that I like about being a wolf! Uh... Can i just say everything?" Link laughed at Sierra's response. She laughed too, but then she froze. She looked towards the door.

"Can you guys feel that?" she said quietly.

"Feel what?" Kris asked confused.

"That... I don't know. It feels almost like...energy. Like warm sunlight on a cold day."

"That doesn't make any sense," I said.

"It's calling, the power is calling me," Sierra almost whispered. "C'mon! Let's go see what it is!" she said louder. She ran downstairs and we followed her, still confused.

Outside, the full moon was high in the sky.

"Hey Link, can you tell what time it is?" I asked. "I don't know how to tell from the position of the moon."

"Well, you should probably learn soon if you want to be able to tell time. Why didn't you learn in your world?" While we were talking, Sierra led us along the village path, following some unseen guide.

"Well, we had machines to tell time in our world," I told him.

"Wow, that's cool!" he said, amazed.

"Yeah, but if we didn't have one, well... We don't know how to tell time with the sun and moon."

"Oh. That's unfortunate. Right now it's around 11 o'clock."

"Thanks!" I said. "Wow, we've been up late!" As I said this, we reached the sanctuary.

"The force is in there," Sierra said. We followed her inside. "It's right down there, I can feel it!" She pointed down to the cellar.

"How do we get down?" Rune asked. "I know how to land without hurting myself, but I don't think Lily does, seeing as she landed on top of me!"

"To be fair, I was a dog at the time," I replied, "but you're right, I wouldn't do much better as a human."

"Yeah, I don't think I could either," Kris said.

"Well, we have to get down there somehow," Sierra said. We all thought for a minute.

"I know I can jump down there just fine," Link said after a while. "Maybe Rune and I could go down there and catch you guys."

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea! Do you think you'll be able to hold our weight?" I asked.

"Yeah, if we work together." He jumped down. "C'mon Rune!" he yelled back up. She jumped down, and rolled when she hit the ground. Rune and Link grabbed each other's arms, creating a place for us to land.

"Who's going first?" Rune yelled. The rest of us looked at each other.

"Umm..." Kris and Sierra both looked nervous, and I was a little anxious myself. But I trusted my friends to catch me.

"I'll go first," I volunteered. I jumped unhesitant into the air, and felt the rush of falling. I hit my friend's arms, and shakily climbed off. "That was kinda fun!" I giggled. Kris came next, and screamed a little on her way down. But she was fine, and Sierra came after her, confident after watching us.

"Thanks guys!" Sierra said. We looked down the earth hall, and saw a strange green light.

We walked down the hall, and saw a floating ball of green light, hovering in the middle of the room. "That wasn't there before..." I said. Sierra slowly walked up to it. A voice seemed to come from the light.

_Bearer of the element earth... Will you accept this power? Will you use it to defend the land and that which you hold dear?_

"I will," Sierra replied. The ball of light floated toward her. It floated straight into her chest, and the green light engulfed her. Everyone had to shield their eyes from the blinding light. When it died down, I opened my eyes. Sierra was standing in front of us. Her eyes seemed brighter than usual.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"Different, somehow," she replied. Now I knew her eyes were brighter, in fact, they were glowing a bright green color. "Element earth. I wonder..." She stretched out her hand, and a chunk of the earth wall came flying toward her, forcing Link to duck. "Sorry!" she apologized. The chunk of dirt was floating in front of her hand!

"Whoa," I gasped.

"Your an earthbender!" Kris shouted, and me and Rune laughed.

"What's an earthbender?" Link asked.

"Something made up from our world," I briefly explained. "They can control and move anything made from earth. Rocks, dirt, sand, stuff like that."

"Bearer of the element earth! That's what it means! You can control earth!" Rune said excitedly.

"Wow!" Sierra exclaimed, the earth still floating in front of her.

"Wait a minute...The light spirit said that we would bear the four elements. Sierra got hers, and now she can control it. Do you know what this means?!" I said excitedly. "All four of us are going to get our own element to control!"


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Oh my gosh! That's gonna be so awesome!" Kris said excitedly. "I wonder which one I'll get?"

"I hope I get fire!" Rune said. I laughed, and yawned.

"I'm gettin' kinda tired," I said sleepily.

"Yeah, we should get some sleep," Link said. We have a lot to do tomorrow, and we've already stayed up pretty late." I nodded, barely able to keep my eyes open. Why did I get so tired all of a sudden? I followed everyone back to the entrance. Rune face palmed.

"There was a ladder the whole time!" Everyone burst out laughing. We climbed up one at a time, and started walking back to the inn. I stumbled.

"Are you okay?" Sierra asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." We reached the inn, and went upstairs. I immediately collapsed in my bed. Everyone else lay down more slowly.

"Night night!" I sleepily called out, and immediately fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I didn't know what time it was. There were no windows in the room. I sat up in bed. Sierra and Kris were still asleep, and Rune was still curled up on the floor. Link was gone, his blanket in a heap on the floor. Wondering where he was, I got up out of bed. He wasn't downstairs. I walked out the door, and saw him standing next to Epona, adjusting her saddle.

"What are you doing?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"I told you, I have to go see Bo. I decided to get an early start."

"But it's so early! Have you even eaten yet?"

"No, but..."

"You have to at least get some breakfast! Come inside," I ordered him. "I'm not letting you leave until you eat!"

"How are you going to stop me?" he said, a little amused.

"Do you really want to find out?" I threatened.

"Fair enough," he sighed. I grabbed his arm and led him inside. Dragging him to the table, I made him sit while I got enough food for all of us. While he was eating, Midna popped out of his shadow. She had been either tired or bored last night and hadn't really shown up much, so I had sort of forgotten about her. I jumped back, tripped on a chair, and fell to the ground.

"Midna!" Link scolded.

"Sorry," she said, laughing. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't take forever to eat! We are on a time limit you know."

"I know, I'm hurrying!" he said, and crammed half a slice of bread in his mouth.

"Let him eat! Jeez, the guy got up really early, he won't have any energy left without food!" I said, getting up off the floor. Midna groaned.

"I knew I should have gotten you up earlier!"

"You woke him up? This early?" I yelled. "Link, why did you let her?"

"The twilight will keep spreading if we don't hurry!" he said, worry in his voice as he continued eating quickly.

"Stop eating so fast, you'll choke! How do you know that the twilight will spread?" I asked him, knowing full well that Midna was just telling him that because she wanted to get the fused shadows as quickly as possible.

"Midna told me. She lives in the twilight, so she knows a lot about it." Exasperated, I sighed. Honestly, I know he's the hero of time, but that boy was so naive!

"Link, she..." I tried to tell him that she was just using him, but the words would not come out of my mouth! "She..." I tried again, but I literally could not speak!

"She what?" he asked me, puzzled.

"I- it's nothing." I gave up trying to tell him. Why couldn't I talk whenever I tried to tell him about Midna? Just then, the other girls came downstairs. Rune was practically dragging Sierra, who was still half asleep.

"Yay, breakfast!" Kris said happily, and sat down. Rune and Sierra sat on the stairs, and I brought them some food. I turned back to Midna.

"You need to stop rushing! We'll never get anything done if we can't at least take care of ourselves!"

"What do you mean?" Sierra asked.

"Link got up really early, and was going to leave without eating, because Midna told him the twilight was going to spread if he didn't hurry!"

"But..." Rune began, but seemed to meet the same speech barrier I did. She looked at me, confused. _Later, _I mouthed.

"Well, we need to get those fused shadows fast!" Midna said. "You guys were so busy messing around last night that you were tired this morning! It's your own fault, ya know."

"Yes, maybe we did stay up a little late, but there's really no need to rush, or we'll mess something up."

"But... Ugh!" Midna groaned, unable to respond.

"You know what, how about you stay here with us?" Rune suggested. "It'll give Link a break, and we'll probably find something useful to do."

"Like what?" Midna snapped, clearly not happy with the arrangements.

"Like figuring out another way to get past those gorons!" Rune said. "I was planning on trying again after Link left."

"Okay, just be careful," Link said. "I don't want you getting killed while I'm gone."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" Rune smiled.

"It's settled then. Link will go talk to Bo," I smiled a little at his name, "Midna will stay here with us; you can stay in other people's shadows, right?" I asked her.

"Yeah," she grumbled.

"Rune will try to get past the gorons again, and Sierra, you should figure out how to use your new powers!"

"Oh, yeah! That'll be fun!" Sierra said excitedly, fully awake now.

"Great, I can help you figure it out if you like," Kris suggested. "I don't really know that much about element powers, but it'll be easier with two people, right?"

"Right!" Sierra smiled.

"Alrighty then! See you guys later!" Rune finished her food and left for death mountain.

"I'd better get going too. Bye!" Link left as well.

"C'mon Sierra, we can go practice by the spring!" Kris and Sierra enthusiastically went off to their practice.

"Guess it's just you and me now, huh?" I said to Midna.

"Hmph, I'm going with Rune. At least she's trying to get something done!" Midna floated off.

"Now what do I do?" I wondered out loud. I went outside, and saw Link on top of Epona, ready to go.

"Hi there! Huh, I guess you don't have anything to do since the other are busy," Link said as I walked up to him and Epona. "Would you like to come with me?"

"I'd love to, but I would probably slow you down."

"Not at all, you'd be very helpful! You're a capable warrior!"

"Oh, I meant Epona would be slower carrying two people."

"Oh, right." He sat there kind of awkwardly.

"Go on!" I exclaimed, "You have a long way to go!"

"Right. Bye!" He turned Epona toward the exit, and galloped off. I turned around. I sighed. I didn't have anything else to do, so I guessed I could go check on the others.

I walked over to death mountain trail. I heard the rumbling of a goron, and a grunt as someone hit the ground. I ran over to the entrance. Rune was getting up off the ground.

"Way to go," Midna said sarcastically.

"Hey, I almost had it!" Rune retorted. I walked over to them.

"Hi guys! No luck so far?"

"Nope," Rune said. "I've only tried once, but those guys are brutal!"

"Yeah, I figured they would be. Be careful, that would stink if you got seriously injured so early on!"

"Yeah, it would! I'll try not to get hurt. I'll stop if I get too sore."

"Good!" We stood in silence for a few seconds.

"I have a question." Rune said. "Earlier, when I was trying to tell Link about... You know..."

"Yeah," I said, knowing where she was going.

"I couldn't say it. The words just would come out of my mouth! What was that all about?"

"I don't know! The same thing happened to me!" I said, confused.

"Maybe it means... I don't know, something to do with the game. We can't talk if we try to tell him something about what's going to happen!"

"Yeah, that makes sense! We can't tell him about the future, because it would be too easy! He still has to become the hero, and he can't do that if we just tell him everything!"

"What are you girls talking about?" Midna asked, irritated.

"Umm, nothing..." Rune said. "Just... Well, we told you we were from another world, right?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"It's about something from our world. You wouldn't get it." Midna scowled, and disappeared into Rune's shadow.

"Wow, I forgot how irritating she was in the beginning."

"Yeah, well, I think she's pretty cool," Rune replied.

"Come to think of it, I seem to be forgetting a lot of stuff about the game," I said. "I can usually remember exactly what happens next, but I keep forgetting important details!"

"Yeah, me too! Maybe our memories were sort of dulled so it wouldn't be too easy for us," Rune guessed.

"Yeah, that makes sense. I can't remember what happens after this. I think it's the fire dungeon."

"Yep, that's what I remember." Rune smiled.

"Well, I'm gonna go see how Sierra and Kris are doing. Bye!" I started jogging away, and waved back to Rune.

"Bye Lily!" Rune started climbing the rope again, and Midna came out of her shadow. Back at the village, I could see Sierra and Kris by the spring. I walked down the village path toward them.

"Figured anything out yet?" I asked them.

"Yes! Watch this!" Sierra raised her arms, and a huge chunk of the ground rose up with them. Kris happened to be standing on that patch of earth, and she fell as it lifted her up.

"Haha, wheee!" Kris laughed as she rose on the patch of earth.

"Basically, I can throw around rocks and dirt. I can build off of that and learn combat!" Sierra sounded really excited.

"Yeah, we've been working on moves from the Last Airbender!" Kris said, kneeling on the floating earth.

"Sounds like you guys are having fun!" I laughed.

"Yep!" they both said at the same time, and laughed. Malo and Beth ran out of the sanctuary.

"Give it back!" Beth yelled, chasing after Malo, who was clutching a doll.

"You threw it at me!" he yelled back, and kept running. I grabbed the doll from him as he ran past, not noticing me. "Hey!" he complained. I tossed the doll to Beth.

"Unless you want them to have it, don't throw it at anyone," I advised.

"Thanks!" said Beth, and ran off with Talo chasing her. I laughed at the two children.

"Hmm, I wonder where Colin is?" I said aloud.

"Oh, I think he's in the sanctuary," Sierra said.

"Okay, I'm gonna go say hi to him. Good luck with the earthbending!" I called, and ran over to the building. Inside, the candles were still lit, giving the place a warm glow. Colin was sitting alone on the floor. "Why aren't you outside playing?" I asked him. "It's really nice outside, and I don't usually say that!" The little boy smiled.

"I don't really feel like playing."

"Well, what do you feel like doing?"

"I don't really know." I thought for a minute.

"Do you want to go explore some of the empty houses?" I suggested.

"Okay. Um, I forgot your name," he said, looking down.

"I'm Lily. Link told me your name was Colin." This wasn't true of course, but I didn't want to confuse him with stories about another world.

"Yep," he said. Didn't this kid ever smile? I wondered why he seemed so unhappy. I offered my hand to him, and he stood up. He grabbed it, and we went outside. Sierra and Kris were busy with their practicing. Talo and Beth had stopped running, and were sitting on one of the porches catching their breath.

"Hey, Colin, you finally came outside!" Talo called out to us. He and Beth laughed. Colin looked down and blushed.

"Hey, leave him alone!" I let go of Colin's hand, and started walking slowly toward them. The other kids got up and ran off. I stuck my tongue out at their retreating backs, and Colin laughed.

"Thanks for helping me," he said.

"Yeah, I just hope I didn't scare them too bad. What do you think?"

"I think they looked pretty scared." Colin smiled. "I think I wanna be your friend!"

"Of course you can be my friend!" I smiled. "C'mon, lets go explore the houses! We found a lot of cool stuff in the inn last night!"

"Okay, I'll race you!" Colin took off running, and I followed him, laughing. For the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon, we explored inside the empty houses. We found several rupees, and divided them between us. Late in the afternoon, Talo and Beth came up to us.

"We're sorry for making fun of you," Beth said. "Say sorry Talo!" She whacked him on the arm.

"Ow! Sorry," he said, rubbing his arm. Beth smiled.

"You wanna play with us? We're playing pirates!" she asked him.

"Sure!" Colin smiled. "We found some rupees in the old buildings, that can be our treasure!"

"How about this," I suggested. "I'll take the rupees and go hide them somewhere. Someone can come with me and we'll be the bad pirates, and the other too are the good pirates who have to gets their treasure back!"

"Yeah! I'll be the bad pirate!" Talo volunteered. We both ran off. "Let's go hide it in that house!" Talo pointed.

"Okay!" We found a chest to hide it in, and some old sticks to use for swords. A few minutes later, Beth and Colin came in.

"Give us back our treasure!" Beth yelled.

"Never!" I said in a rough voice. Beth and Colin, wielding "swords", ran forward, and an epic battle ensued. Colin and Beth won, and grabbed the rupees from the chest.

"Hooray, we won!" Beth cheered. Colin gave me back my rupees. "Hey, what are you doing?" Beth asked him.

"They're her's," he said.

"I don't really need them, you guys can split them."

"Hey, I want some!" Talo ran forward. I smiled.

"Once you guys are done, let's go outside. There's something cool I want to show you!" They finished quickly, and I led them outside. Sierra and Kris were walking back to the inn. "Hey guys! Done with practice?" I said to them.

"Yeah," Sierra panted. "I'm completely exhausted!"

"Heehee, I'm not!" Kris laughed, clearly still full of energy.

"Well, maybe you can show the kids your skills later, once you've rested," I suggested.

"Okay," Sierra panted, and sat down on the porch. Rune came stumbling up to us, hair all messed up and clothes torn and dusty.

"Heh, no luck?" Sierra asked.

"Nope." Midna popped out of her shadow.

"Wah!" Talo jumped back. "What is that thing?"

"'That 'thing' can hear you. My name is Midna."

"You just came out of her shadow!" Beth said, shocked.

"Yeah, got a problem?" Midna stared at Beth, and she was silent. "Anyways, we couldn't get past the gorons, so I guess we'll just have to wait for Link."

"Where is Link? I haven't seen him all day," Colin asked.

"He's gone to Ordon to let your parents know you're okay," Rune said. It was part of the truth, Link probably would tell the kids' parents to stop them from worrying. "He should be back sometime soon."

"Okay!" Colin smiled. The kid seemed happier without the others picking on him, but he was still shy.

"Well, I'm gonna go see if I can find some new clothes," Rune said, gesturing to her torn up, dirty tunic.

"Oh, that's already taken care of!" Sierra said, pulling off her bag. "There's an extra set of clothes in here for each of us! And also some clothes that I think are supposed to be for casual wear."

"Cool!" Rune said. "We can try on the other clothes later, Link should be back soon and we'll be able to go into the mountain." She grabbed the bag and went inside the hotel to change.

"I just realized, we never had lunch!" I laughed. "Lets go get something to eat! You guys wanna come with us?" I asked the kids.

"Sure!" Colin agreed.

"Nah, we found some stuff to eat in one of the houses. We'll stay out here and wait for Link!" Talo said, and he and Beth went and sat in the middle of the street. We went inside, and started eating a very late lunch. After a few minutes, Rune came down in a fresh set of clothes, and joined us.

"Do any of you guys hear that?" Rune asked. A low rumbling sound seemed to be coming from outside. Colin got up and opened the door to see. He gasped, and charged outside. We all quickly got up to see what was happening. A huge green bulbin, along with several others, was riding a boar, straight toward Beth. I called out to her, but she was frozen in fear. I started toward her, but Colin had already reached her. He shoved her out if the way, and the boar crashed into him.

"No!" I yelled. The huge bulbin picked up the unconscious boy. I drew my sword and stepped forward. "Hey, pick on someone your own size, fatty!" I yelled. I had no idea how I'd worked up the courage to say that, but I was ready to do anything it took to save my new friend. The big bulbin laughed, and signaled to one of the smaller bulbins. It shot a flaming arrow at me. I quickly jumped out of the way, the arrow grazing my arm. It hit the inn, and flames started licking up the wood.

"Oh no!" Sierra yelled. She and Kris started trying to put out the fire. I looked back at the bulbin, furious. Before I could attack, however, I heard a loud whinny. Epona came running forward, with Link on her back! He stopped short at the sight of the huge bulbin. It held Colin's body up, taunting Link. Then, it rode away, heading toward the north field. Link rode up toward us.

"What happened?" he yelled over the crackling of flames.

"They took Colin! I tried to fight them, but they shot a fire arrow at the inn!" I yelled back. A look of determination and fury came over Link's face.

"I'm going after him," he said firmly, and turned Epona toward the north field. As he rode forward, Rune and I looked at each other.

"We can't let him do this alone! C'mon!" Rune said. I nodded, and we both ran off. I stopped, and ran back to Sierra.

"Is there a bow in your bag?" I asked her.

"Yeah, here!" she pulled it out and tossed it to me, then continued putting out the fire.

"Thanks!" I called.

"Good luck!" Kris called, as I charged after Rune.

Out on the field, Link was chasing King Bulbin on his horse. The monster had Colin strapped to a pole on the front of his boar. He blew a large horn, and several bulbins riding on boars started chasing Link. He was forced to slow down so he could swing his sword, and the distance between him and the bulbin increased.

"We've got to get rid of those goblin things!" Rune said.

"They're called bulbins. Looks like there's two of them on each boar," I said, thinking quickly, "one to steer, and one firing those fire arrows."

"That's all I need to know." Rune smiled, and charged forward. She swung her sword at a passing boar, and the two bulbins on top fell to the ground. The boar got up, and reared, preparing to charge. Rune jumped on its back, and grabbed its reins as it hit the ground and charged forward. The bulbin who fell down started chasing her, but she was too busy trying to stay on to stop them.

_Alright,_ I thought, _time to see if I'm any good with a bow_. I fitted an arrow to the bowstring and pulled it back as far as I could. I had practiced archery a few times back at home, but never a moving target. I aimed for one of the bulbins running on the ground, and let go of the bowstring. The arrow shot forward, and hit the bulbin right in the chest. It fell to the ground and exploded. "Yes!" I cheered, and grabbed another arrow. I aimed for the second bulbin, and let the arrow lose. "Headshot!" I yelled, as the bulbin fell. By this time, Rune had recovered, and was chasing after the bulbins trying to hit Link. She drew her sword, and sliced at one of them. It fell, but the archer was still riding, its arrow aimed at her. I carefully aimed, and shot the monster. Wow, this bow was pretty easy to aim, or I got really lucky! I continued shooting the bulbins from my place on the field, while Rune slashed at them from on top of the boar. Link started getting closer to the huge bulbin. He caught up, and slashed at it several times, chunks of its armor falling off. It pulled forward, trying to avoid his sword, and took out the horn. It blew it again, and another wave of bulbins came riding forward. Rune and I started shooting and slashing them, while Link tried to catch up to the large bulbin again.

King Bulbin, however, seemed to find a weakness in our tactics. He swerved around, narrowly avoiding Link's sword. I was busy with the smaller bulbins, and didn't notice him getting closer.

"Lily, look out!" Link yelled. I turned, and finally noticed King Bulbin charging straight toward me! I rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the boars thundering hooves. Link sped past me, and knocked off more of the bulbin's armor. Relieved, I turned back to the small bulbins, only to see them headed toward me too! I had no time to run, the group of boars thundered around me. I tried my best to dodge them, but I felt one of them grab the back of my tunic. I screamed, sure it was going to throw me, as it swung me around. I landed, not on the ground, but on the back of the boar. It wasn't a bulbin that grabbed me, it was Rune!

"You okay?" she yelled over the trampling of hooves.

"Yeah, thanks!" I yelled back.

"Good!" She smiled, turned back around, and stabbed the bulbin on the boar next to us. Its rider gone, the boar swerved, and I shot the archer still on its back. Just like the bulbin teams, Rune and I fought together, with her steering and me shooting from the back of the monster. It was really bumpy, so I missed a lot more than on the ground, but we took out most of them. However, one pair got behind us. Rune tried turning the boar around, but they kept following right behind us. I couldn't turn around enough to shoot them without danger of falling off. The archer took aim, and I frantically tried to draw my sword and at least attempt to stop the arrow. Suddenly, the earth below the boar caved, it tripped, and the bulbins went flying. I twisted around, and saw Sierra standing on a rise, the sun setting behind her. Kris was already near the fallen bulbins, holding a grey scythe with a red handle. She slashed the bulbins as they got up, and turned to wave at us. Rune stopped the boar, and we both got off. Sierra lifted a piece of earth, and floated over toward us.

"So, I take it you put the fire out?" Rune smiled.

"Yeah, I had the idea of smothering it with earth!" Sierra said.

"Wow, that was amazing!" I said. "You saved us! And the sun was going down behind you, and it looked so cool!"

"Thanks!" Sierra laughed.

"Where's Link?" Kris asked. I looked around. Link and King Bulbin were no longer riding around the field.

"He's over there!" Rune pointed over to the bridge. We ran over to it, and found the way onto the bridge blocked by a burning wall. Rune climbed onto a platform sticking off of the side of the bridge. We followed her, still not able to get on the bridge, but we could see everything that was happening. Link and King Bulbin were charging toward each other in a sort of jousting match.

"They're going to crash!" Kris yelled.

"No, they aren't! Watch," I said. Right before Link and King Bulbin crashed, Link swerved to the side, and slashed the monster with his sword as he sped by. The bulbin roared in pain, and stopped his boar at the other end of the bridge. Link stopped Epona, and turned around. They charged at each other again. I looked over at Rune; she was tensed up, with a dead serious expression on her face. She was still holding her sword, and twirling it around in her hands.

"What if he doesn't make it?" she said nervously.

"He will! He has to..." I looked back at the fight, suddenly nervous. None of them would survive a fall off that bridge. Only one would walk away. We can't lose Link this early in the game! I thought frantically. The two fighters reached each other. King Bulbin swung at Link, but he ducked. Link swung his sword so hard that it sent the monster flying off the bridge, into the dark chasm below. As the sun sank behind them, Epona reared into the air, and Link raised his sword triumphantly. The four of us watching the battle cheered, and I beamed. Up until this point, he had seemed kind of hesitant, afraid of his fate, I thought. But now, his courage showed in his face, and I knew, without a doubt, he would face any challenge that stood in his way. He was truly the hero, and my friends and I would be there to see him become who he was meant to be. As I cheered, my heart swelled up with pride for our new friend.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

The fire barrier eventually burned out, and we ran onto the bridge. Link was climbing off of Epona. The second he touched the ground, Rune nearly tackled him in a hug. He looked surprised before he hugged her back. After a second, they both pulled away, blushing. I giggled.

"You did great, Link!" I said.

"Thanks!" he smiled. He seemed to remember something. "Colin!" he cried, running over to the boar, now sitting calmly without a rider. I ran over too, and climbed on the boar's back. "Be careful!" Link said. I slowly stood up on its back, and reached for the pole Colin was tied to. I drew my sword, and sliced through the red cloth tied around the boy. He fell forward, and into Link's arms. I quickly climbed down again, and ran over to them.

"Is he alright?" I asked, worried.

"Yes, he's just knocked out," Link said after checking his pulse. Sierra walked over, holding Epona's reins.

"One of you can ride on her with Colin. Carrying him all the way back to the village might be hard."

"I'll ride with him," I volunteered. I climbed up into the saddle, and Link lifted Colin up. I sat him in front of me, and he fell back against me. Link grabbed the reins, and started slowly leading Epona back to the village. Sierra and Kris walked on either side of me, while Rune walked next to Link.

"That was really cool, what you guys did with the boar!" Kris said to me.

"Haha, thanks! It was Rune's idea, she actually saved me from getting trampled by pulling me up onto it!"

"Cool!" Kris said. We reached the village, and the other kids came running over.

"Is he okay?" Beth said frantically.

"Yes, don't worry. He should wake up soon," I reassured her. As if on cue, Colin started stirring. Link lifted him out of the saddle, and kneeled down, holding the child in his lap. Colin slowly opened his eyes.

"Link...You saved me," he said quietly.

"I had help," Link smiled at us. Colin looked over at us four girls.

"Thank you...all of you." He looked over at Beth. "I'm sorry for shoving you Beth. Are you mad?" She shook her head. "Good." Colin smiled. "I think I know what my dad meant, when he said to be strong, like you Link. He didn't mean strong like lifting stuff," he lifted his hand and clenched it, "he meant strong like being brave." He lowered his hand. Link smiled, proud of his young friend. "You...you can help the gorons, can't you Link?" Link nodded. Colin smiled, and closed his eyes. Talo gasped, and tried to lift Colin onto his back. Renado lifted the child into his arms. "We'll take care of him Link. Don't worry."

"Thank you," Link said. "I will do everything I can to help you and the gorons." Renado walked inside the sanctuary with Colin and the kids followed him. Link turned around and looked at the mountain. Rune stood next to him.

"Link, I want to go with you into the mountain. Remember when the light spirit said to go to the place we felt most drawn to?" He nodded. "For some reason, I feel like the mountain's important to me. I've been trying so hard to get into it because I feel drawn to it. Whatever's in there, I want to see it."

"Alright. I wasn't really looking forward to going by myself." He smiled at her, and she blushed slightly.

"It's almost dark. We should get some sleep before you try to go into the mountain," Sierra said. We nodded, and quietly walked back to the inn. I gave the bow back to Sierra, laid my sword on the floor, and fell asleep as soon as I got into bed.

The next morning, Rune woke me up.

"Link and I are leaving now. You guys can sleep in if you like," she said quietly so as not to wake the others.

"Okay," I replied sleepily. "I'll let the others sleep, but I can't really go back to sleep once I wake up."

"Sorry."

"No, it's fine. I wanted to at least walk you guys to the path."

"Okay! We already ate and we have our stuff packed in Link's pouch. We'll wait for you outside." Rune walked out, closing the door behind her. I quietly strapped my sword on my back, just in case, and ran my fingers through my messy hair. I ran downstairs and got a slice of bread to eat on the way. We sure have been eating a lot of bread lately, I thought. I hope we can get some fresh meat or fruit soon. I walked outside, where Link and Rune were waiting.

"You're already done?" Rune asked me.

"Yeah. I'm just walking you guys to the path, I don't need to prepare that much. Are you ready?" I asked.

"As we'll ever be," she said, looking at Link. He nodded.

"Let's go," he said. We followed him to the mountain path.

"This is, like, the third time I've been here," I said.

"Yeah, me too!" Rune chuckled. We reached the wall where the path started. "So... What's the big secret to getting past the gorons?" Rune asked Link.

"These." Link pulled a pair of boots out of his pack. They were made entirely of metal.

"Iron boots," Rune said, remembering.

"Yep. They'll weigh me down enough to stop the gorons from rolling into us," he said.

"What about me?" Rune asked.

"You'll stand next to me while the goron rolls toward us, and when I catch it, you move out of the way while I throw it behind us," he explained.

"Okay, but I can do it too if you want to take a break," Rune said.

"Well..." Link seemed reluctant to let her.

"You guys can argue about it later, go!" I hurried them on. "Oh, and Midna, are you here?" I asked. She popped out of Link's shadow.

"Yep."

"Stay with them, okay? Make sure they don't do anything to get themselves killed."

"Hey, I'm not that reckless!" Rune protested.

"You jumped on top of a monster stampeding at full speed. It worked, but it might not work every time. Just be careful."

"Don't worry, we'll be careful," Link reassured. "Thanks for looking out for us."

"You're welcome!" I smiled. "Now go!" I shoved them both toward the mountain. Link strapped on his boots. They climbed up the ropes, Link with some difficulty due to the extra weight. I heard the goron yell, and start rolling toward them again. This time, however, I heard a grunt from Link, and the goron came flying over the edge. I yelped, and dodged out of it's path. The goron uncurled, and looked at me.

"What are you doing here, human?" he bellowed.

"I live in the village. For now at least," I replied, fighting back laughter as I realized that he didn't know what happened.

"Humans are not permitted..." he stopped as he looked around. "Wait...How did... Those kids!" He jumped up, and started climbing the rope. I burst out laughing as he frantically climbed, trying to catch up with "those kids" to try and stop them from reaching the mountain.

Link and Rune ran forward after throwing the goron.

"C'mon, hurry up! I hear another one coming!" Rune called.

"I'm trying, these boots are heavy!"

"Just take them off until the next one comes!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. Another goron came rumbling down the path, and Link braced himself to grab it. It stopped rolling as it hit him, and he threw it behind him.

The first goron had finally made it up the ropes, only to collide with the goron rumbling down the path where it had been thrown. They both got up, rubbing their heads.

"What are you doing, Brother? Why didn't you stop those humans?" the first one asked.

"I tried, but the boy threw me! I didn't know humans were that strong!"

"They usually aren't. C'mon, we should at least try to warn the others." The two gorons started back up the mountain.

"Quick, put the boots on, here comes another one!" Rune yelled at Link. Panting, he braced himself again. The goron rolled straight at Link, knocking him flat on his back as he tried to stop it. The goron continued rolling down the path. "Link, are you okay?!" Rune yelled, shaking him. His vision blurred, Link tried to stand up. "No, you need to take a break. Let me have the boots." Rune demanded.

"But you..."

"I can handle myself, give me the boots!" Link reluctantly took them off and handed them to her. She put them on as another goron came rolling toward them. Rune grabbed the goron as it hit her, sliding back a little, and grunting with the effort. She yelled and flung it around, and grinned as it rolled down the path. Link started at her, impressed. "See? Told you I could handle it!" They continued to run up the path, stopping gorons as they tried to stop them. Eventually, they came to a wide space with several gorons standing around, guarding the way up into their mines.

"How do we get through?" Rune whispered. A shout came from above them.

"Humans!" A goron yelled. He jumped on the back of a curled up goron, and was propelled up onto a ledge. He began rolling down toward them.

"Uh-oh," Link said. Midna came out of his shadow.

"Did you see that? I bet if you can get on their backs, the gorons will shoot you up like that one did!"

"Yeah, but what about that guy?" Rune said, pointing to the goron rolling toward them.

"You'll be fine, just do what you've been doing!" Midna disappeared into Link's shadow.

"That was helpful," Rune said sarcastically.

"Well, at least we know how to get to the top now," Link said. He walked over to one of the gorons. It tried to punch him, but he blocked it with his shield. The goron fell back, and curled up into a ball. Link climbed on top. "C'mon!" He grabbed Rune's hand and pulled her up. The goron uncurled, flinging them into the air and onto the ledge above.

"That was...effective," Rune said, a little shaky.

"We still have to do that a few times to get to the top," Link pointed out. Rune groaned.

The two gorons panted as they ran after the humans.

"It's a lot harder going uphill!" the first goron said.

"Look," the other goron said, "there's the others! Maybe they were able to stop them!" They ran up to a goron guarding the way up. "Brother, have you seen two human pass through here?" he asked.

"Yes," the guard replied. "they attacked me and vaulted up on my back! That boy... He is clearly a warrior."

"Yes, he is very strong! He stopped me rolling at full speed toward him!"

"Do you think... maybe he could help us with our...problem?" the guard said, somewhat hopefully.

"Maybe he could. He has that other human with him, she is fierce. Together, maybe they could."

"The goron elder would never let them through. He is very proud, and protective of our lands," the first goron said. They all looked up as Link and Rune vaulted up off a goron's back.

"I think they are different from other humans," the guard said. "Maybe they will convince the elder to let them through. If they can, than we could be free."

A few goron throws, battles, and some rock dodging later, Link and Rune were at the top.

"Ready to go in?" Link asked.

"Nope. Let's go," Rune replied. They walked into a room filled with gorons. At the sight of humans, they all curled up and started rolling toward them. Link stepped in front of Rune and put his arms up in a futile attempt to protect them both. Just as the gorons began to pick up speed, a deep voice called out.

"Stop!" A goron, smaller than the others, stepped into the room. "Are these humans such a threat that you must gang up on them, Brothers?" The gorons uncurled. Link and Rune breathed a sigh of relief. "Come closer," the smaller goron said. They did so. "You must have some reason for coming so far into our domain. I am Gor Coron, an elder of the Goron tribe. Who are you?"

"I'm Link, and this is my friend Rune. We're from the village, and we are here because we heard that you had trouble in your mines."

"Well, you are right about the trouble. A while ago, the mountain started erupting frequently, and it became dangerous to enter the mines. We elders went to investigate, along with the patriarch of our tribe. In the center of the mine was an old relic the light spirit entrusted to us. The second he touched it, our patriarch turned into a monster! We had no choice but to seal him deep within the mines."

"That stinks," Rune spoke up. "But we can help you with that. That's why we're here; we're looking for that dark relic."

"Our mines are important to us. We cannot allow any humans to pass. Unless..." The goron elder smiled. "You can best me in a contest of strength." Link and Rune looked at each other, and nodded.

"I'll do it." Link stepped forward.

"Excellent." The elder smiled. He walked into a sumo ring in the middle of the room. Link pit on his iron boots, then stepped into the ring. A few of the gorons laughed at Link's awkward walk with the heavy boots on.

"That human is so scrawny! He's never going to beat the elder!" a goron standing next to Rune laughed. She glared at him, and he fell silent. The match began. Some of the gorons started cheering for Gor Coron, including the one next to Rune.

"Go Link!" Rune cheered. She couldn't tell if he heard her, but he fought with determination. The two opponents dodged around the ring. The goron grabbed Link and tried to push him off, but thanks to the heavy boots, he was able to keep from sliding too far, and pushed the goron off him. They circled each other again, trying to see what their opponent would do next. Suddenly, the goron darted forward, but grabbed the air instead of Link. He had dodged to the side, and grabbed the goron, pushing him back toward the edge of the ring. The goron tried to push Link off, but he was already too close to the edge. Link gave one final shove, and the elder toppled out of the ring. Some of the gorons gasped, and Rune yelled, "Yes!" Link took off his boots and walked over to the elder.

"You fight like a real warrior, boy. You two! Step aside, and let the boy and his friend pass," he said to the gorons starting in front of the entrance to the mine. "The mines are very dangerous to humans. Be careful, and the best of luck to you! I hope you find a way to free our patriarch." Link nodded to the elder. Rune walked up next to Link, and together they stepped into the depths of the fiery mountain.

**Author's note: **

NikittyKat has posted a review with the idea to ask everyone who their favorite character is. I think this is a great idea since I am also quite curious to see who everyone likes! So, if you're reading this, please post a review telling me who your favorite character is, and I will post the numbers at the end of each new chapter! Hope you're enjoying the story so far, and thank you so much to everyone who has posted reviews! ^w^


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The first thing that Rune noticed in the mines was lava. Below her and Link was a pool of it, with geysers shooting out of it seemingly at random.

"That looks dangerous," Rune commented. Midna came out of Link's shadow.

"Wow, they call this place a mine? More like a volcano! Whew, it's hot! Be careful not to fall in, or you'll probably never come back out!" Link looked nervously at Rune as Midna went back in his shadow.

"Don't worry, we won't fall in. You'd have to practically jump in to fall; getting across that looks easy!" she reassured him.

"Yeah, but what about those?" Link pointed to the geysers of lava.

"We just have to time our jumps right. If you look closely, you can see that there are a few seconds in between each stream." She walked over to the platforms sticking out of the lava, and waited for a geyser to go off. As soon as it finished, she jumped across. "C'mon!" she yelled at Link. He quickly jumped across, just as the geyser shot up behind him.

"Whoa, that was close!" he said, breathing hard.

"Yep. C'mon!" Rune jumped across the next platform. Together, they got across the pool of lava. On the other side, there was a metal structure that reached almost to the ceiling of the mine. Some wooden planks were blocking the path under the structure. Link broke them with his sword, and they walked under the structure.

"Hmm... This thing kinda looks like a switch," Rune said, pointing to a square shaped bump on the ground. She stood on top of it, but she wasn't enough to weigh it down. She tried jumping, making Link laugh, but the switch would not budge.

"Let me try." Link stood on top of the switch. He put on his iron boots, and it sank into the ground. The stream of flames blocking their path shut off, and a ticking noise started up.

"It's on a timer, go!" Link pushed Rune forward, and they ran past the hole that had stopped shooting out flames. Several seconds after they passed, the flames turned back on.

"That was close," Rune said sarcastically.

"I guess we had more time than I thought," Link said sheepishly. Up ahead, there was another stream of flames with a cut off switch. Link pushed it down with his boots again, and they ran past.

"Wait, it's a dead end. Oh my gosh, there's another path, hurry before the flames come back on!" Rune grabbed Link's hand, and pulled him over the metal path, just as the flames kicked on again. The back of his tunic was singed as he barely made it past.

"Aw man, the tunic got burned!" Link said, looking at the blackened area.

"It's okay, we can fix it later," Rune said. Midna appeared.

"Yeah, quit whining about your clothes and get a move on!"

"But this tunic belonged to the hero of time, long ago when he saved Hyrule! I don't want to just ruin it!"

"I'm sure he burned it lots of times too, don't worry about it!" Rune said. "Let's go!" She climbed up a ladder in front of them, and he sighed and followed her. Midna rolled her eyes at Link, and sunk back into his shadow. Across the river of lava, there was another switch.

"How many more of these are there?" Rune sighed. Link turned off the switch, and they ran across the rock ledge to the stream of fire that had turned off, narrowly avoiding a fire slug-thing that had dropped from the ceiling. At the end of the metal platform, there was another platform next to a door.

"I think if you weigh that down, it will open the door," Midna said. Link jumped across, and the platform started going down. Rune jumped on with him, and it lowered even faster. When it reached the ground, the gate covering the door opened.

"So that was the first room?" Rune said. "This is going to be really long..."

After saying goodbye to Link and Rune, and laughing my head off at the confused goron, I walked back to the village. Kris and Sierra were still asleep, and I was still hungry, so I got some more food. I tried to think of something to do while Link and Rune were gone. We were supposed to save the world, so we shouldn't just sit around all day! Sierra seemed to have control of her powers, and Kris and I have done pretty well at fighting so far. Training wouldn't do much good until the rest of us got our powers. _I wonder what mine will be... _I thought. Finishing my breakfast, I decided to walk around outside. The weather in Hyrule was really nice, and the air smelled good in the morning. Talo was walking around outside.

"Hey, you got up early!" I called to him.

"It's not that early. Besides, I'm bored. Colin's still recovering, and Beth and Luda are taking care of him. Mr. Renado says he doesn't need anymore help, so I have no one to play with," he sighed.

"What about Malo?" I remembered the baby, who was very mature for his age.

"He went inside that abandoned store, and he hasn't come out yet." Talo pointed to an old building. Oh, right, Malo Mart! I remembered the store that the baby ran and almost laughed. Can't wait for the Castle town branch to open! "How about I go see what he's up to?" I said aloud.

"Yeah, sure," Malo said, suddenly distracted by one of the crows that fly around the village. He picked up a rock, and tried to hit the bird as I walked inside the shop. Inside, there was a counter with a wooden shield resting on it. I picked it up to examine it.

"Hey, no messing with the merchandise!" A voice came from behind the counter. I dropped the shield, startled. "Sorry," the voice said. I looked behind the counter, and saw Malo. "I've decided to use this old place to open a shop. I figured I could help you guys out with low-priced items that you can use on your adventure."

"Awww, that's sweet of you!" I said.

"It's good business. Anyway, you want to buy anything?" he asked. I looked at the items behind the counter. There was a jug of red potion, some bundles of arrows, and a metal shield. "Can I see that?" I pointed to the shield.

"Well, okay, but if you break it, you buy it!" He handed me the shield. It was a lot lighter than it looked. The metal was painted a dark blue, with silver around the edges. In the middle was a design that looked like a red bird, with its wings spread, and the triforce mark above it in yellow. "Its made from a really strong metal that will never break. Some people say that the hero of time used it long ago. I came across it in the back of the shop," Malo said proudly. "It doesn't come cheap, though. That shield costs 200 rupees."

"200!?" I repeated. That was a lot! I had found about 20 with Colin yesterday, but I didn't think any of us had even close to 200! I gave it back. "I don't have that much, but I'd really like to buy it later. Can you reserve it for me or something?" I asked.

"Well, there's only one, so whoever buys it first will get it. I can keep it off display if you like, but if anyone asks about it I'll have to show them."

"Thank you!" I said, and ran outside. Malo was still trying to hit the bird, but this time, Kris had joined him.

"Hi!" She waved at me.

"Hey there, is Sierra up yet?"

"I don't know, she was asleep when I left."

"Come with me, I have something to tell you both!" I ran back towards the hotel to wake up Sierra.

Rune and Link sat down on a few wooden boxes, breathing hard. So far, they had fought their way through a bunch of bokoblins, jumped across lava on rotating platforms, fought huge fire breathing lizards, and dodged more lava geysers. They had finally reached a section of land with no lava or monsters, and were taking a moment to rest.

"Nice job with the lizard," Link complemented Rune.

"Heh, thanks. It's not too hard once you know the tail is the weak spot." Rune got up off the box. "We should probably keep going, we have lots of dungeon left!" Link laughed, and got up too.

"Alright. Hmmm, I think that chain over there might be important." He walked over. There was indeed a metal chain, with a handle attached to it, lying on the ground. "It looks like it's attached to a wall of some kind." Link picked up the chain, and pulled. The wall slid out a little bit. He pulled it out all the way, and the path to the door was open. He dropped the chain, and the wall started to slide back in. Another wall was blocking his way to the path, so he jumped across the platforms over the lava they had come through. He had almost reached the path when a geyser shot up in front of him. By the time it receded, and he jumped to the path leading to the door, the wall had slid all the way back in, and the way was blocked again.

"I'll pull it out so you can get through," Rune offered.

"But then you won't be able to get through. Let me try again." Link jumped back over, and pulled the wall out again. He hopped back across the platforms, but the geyser shot up and blocked him again, stopping him from getting to the wall before it slid back. Midna appeared next to him.

"Look, the geysers are shooting at certain intervals. If you can time your jumps, I bet you can get across in time," she advised.

"Thanks Midna," Link said, focusing on the geysers. He started pulling the wall, waited for the right moment, and let go. He ran to the platforms, and was immediately stopped by a geyser. He tried again, and almost made it, but the wall slid into place right before he reached it. "Okay, I got it this time!" Rune rolled her eyes as he tried again, and failed. Finally, after a few more tries, he was able to slide past the wall before it slid shut. "Yes! I got it! Oh, you have to get through now," he said to Rune. She grinned, and waited for the right moment to start pulling the wall back. She let go, jumped across the platforms, and smoothly walked past the wall before it slid into place. Link stared at her and shock. "How did you do that?" he asked.

"I watched you try so many times that I figured it out. C'mon, let's see what's through this door. I hope it's not more lava." Rune pulled Link over to the door, him still staring in shock.

Inside the door, an old, bent goron was standing on a sumo ring.

"Do I have to fight him?" Link whispered to Rune. "I don't want to hurt him!"

"I doubt it," Rune whispered back. She walked over to the goron. "Hello, my name is Rune, and this is Link. We're here to..."

"Find the great power, I know," the old goron croaked. "I can see that you both are great warriors. I hope that the both of you working together can free our patriarch." The old goron shifted his weight, leaning on a staff. "I am one of the elders who has sealed away Darbus. We stay here in the mines to make sure he does not break free. Here, take this." He handed Rune a key shard. "The key to the room where Darbus resides is broken into three pieces. Each of us elders have one. Go and see the other elders to get the other pieces."

"Thank you," Rune said.

"I wish you both luck!" Rune and Link walked to the back of the room, and climbed a ladder to the second floor of the mines. They walked out the door, ready to face the next challenge the mines provided.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Outside the door, Link and Rune could see the ceiling of the room they were last in. It was completely covered in a bluish metal.

"What does that stuff do?" Link asked Rune, realizing by now that she knew quite a bit about the mines.

"You'll see." Rune smirked. "Walk over to that switch and put the boots on." Link did so, and a magnetic beam appeared. It pulled his boots up to the ceiling, with him still in them.

"Whoa! I-I'm upside down!" Link exclaimed. Rune laughed at his surprise.

"Try walking. Don't worry, you won't fall."

"This is so weird," Link said, taking a few steps. "Hey, now we can get to that door over there! Come on!" He started walking toward the door on the other side of the metallic ceiling.

"Link, I can't. You have the boots," Rune reminded him.

"Oh, right. How are you going to get across?"

"That's what I'm asking you!"

"Hmmm..." Link thought for a moment. "I could carry you."

"What?" Rune exclaimed, her face turning slightly pink.

"I could come down, and you could ride on my back," Link suggested, also blushing a little.

"But... Oh, alright. I can't think of any other way." Link took off the boots, and fell down, landing on his feet. Rune hesitated, then jumped on his back, causing him to buckle slightly.

"Whoa, tell me when you're getting on next time!"

"Just go," Rune said, gritting her teeth and blushing even more. He walked over to the switch, and put the boots on. Rune screamed a little as gravity was reversed, and wrapped her arms tight around Link's neck.

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall," he reassured her. Trying not to look at the lava below them, Rune held on as tightly as she could without strangling him. Link walked across the ceiling, avoiding fire slugs, and reached the door. He took the boots off, and they both fell.

"It's okay, we're down now," he said to Rune. Rune let go of him, and stood up, her legs shaking. She quickly regained her composure, a little embarrassed at her fear. "Umm..." Link rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the floor. Rune couldn't tell if his face was red from being upside down, or something else. "I guess we should keep going," he said.

"Yeah." They walked through the door.

"Sierra, wake up!" I jumped on her bed, and started bouncing up and down to shake her awake. "There's something I have to tell you!" Sierra groaned, and opened her eyes.

"What are you doing? It's so early..."

"No it's not! C'mon, get up!" I grabbed her arm, and tried to drag her out of bed.

"Okay, okay, let go of me, I'm getting up!" She slowly got out of bed, rubbing her eyes.

"What is it Lily?" Kris asked, sitting on her own bed.

"I found something to do while Link and Rune are gone!"

"Yeah, sleep," Sierra said, still half asleep.

"No, don't go back to sleep! You remember the hylian shield?" I asked.

"No."

"Oh, right, you haven't played the game. Well, it's this metal shield that Malo is selling, and its really cool, but it's even prettier in real life! I can show it to you later, but anyway, I thought it would be cool if we bought it!"

"Why would we need a shield? Sierra can use earth as a shield, and I don't think any of us really know how to fight with one," Kris pointed out.

"Not for us, for Link! His shield is made of wood, and he's in a fire dungeon, do you really think it will last very long? Besides, it belongs to him," I said.

"What do you mean? Did that kid take it from him?" Sierra asked.

"No, it belonged to him in a past life. Remember when I told you how Link is reborn as a hero whenever Hyrule needs him? Link in the other games is the Link we know, he just doesn't remember it."

"Oh, yeah. So, that shield belong to him in one of the other games?"

"Yeah! I think we should get it again for him. It can be kinda like a present for passing the dungeon!" I said excitedly.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Sierra smiled. "We should get something for Rune too."

"Hmmm, I wonder what she would like?" Kris wondered aloud.

"We'll find something. Right now, we should start collecting rupees. I only have twenty, and the shield is 200," I informed them.

"200 rupees!? How are we going to get that much?" Kris exclaimed.

"Well, there are rupees lying around all over the place! In grass, pots, boxes... I found the twenty I have in the houses here, I bet there's a bunch in the village," I guessed.

"I'm really good at finding rupees! I can look for those!" Kris suggested.

"Great! Sierra, you and I will have to find another way to get them."

"Hmmm," Sierra thought. "Maybe some of the villagers can pay us for work?"

"Maybe!" I said excitedly. "Lets go ask! See you later Kris!" I grabbed Sierra's hand, and we ran outside.

"Well, I guess I better look for some money. I wonder if there's any in the hotel." Kris went downstairs and started looking around. There was a small box behind the counter, with 10 rupees inside. "Ooo, this must have been a change box! Well, no one's using it anymore!" Kris grabbed the rupees and put them in her pocket. She saw a chest in a corner under the stairs. "I wonder what's in there..." She walked over and opened it. "Da-na na na! 50 rupees!" she said, holding the money over her head triumphantly. "I should go look in the other houses, maybe Lily missed some." Kris walked outside.

Sierra and I ran to the sanctuary. Renado was inside.

"Hello girls! Can I help you?"

"Yes, actually," Sierra began. "We're trying to save up money, and we want to know if there's anyway we can work to earn some."

"Hmmm, well I don't need any help. Why don't you ask Barnes, he's over by his warehouse. So done seems to have accidentally blown up his stocks." I tried not to look guilty.

"Thank you!" Sierra bowed, and dragged me outside. "That was you, wasn't it?" she asked me once we were outside.

"Yeah..." I looked at the ground.

"Well, maybe that actually helps us. I bet he'll pay us to help make more of his stuff that he lost!"

"Oh, yeah! Let's go!" We jogged up the path to the destroyed warehouse. Barnes was standing in front of it, shaking his head.

"All those explosives... I knew it wasn't a good idea to put a fireplace in there."

"Hey, Mr. Barnes!" Sierra called.

"Oh, hello. Where are the rest of your friends?"

"Kris is collecting rupees, and Link and Rune are in the goron mines."

"Oh. Well then, can I help you?"

"Actually, we came to help you," I said. "We're trying to earn some money, so we came looking for a job."

"Well, what a coincidence! I was just lookin' for somebody to help me with something!" Barnes grinned.

"What do you need help with?" Sierra asked, sounding hopeful.

"As you can see, all of my stocks have been blown up." I hoped my face wasn't turning red, but it felt like it. "I need some helpers to gather the materials and help mix the gunpowder. It's dangerous work, so I need someone with a steady hand."

"We can do it!" I volunteered.

"We can?" Sierra said skeptically. "I don't know, mixing explosives does sound pretty dangerous."

"Of course we can do it! It's not like we haven't been in danger before!" I said, somewhat surprised that I felt so calm. Before we came here, I would have freaked out at the thought of handling explosives! I'm actually confident now! I guess after fighting monsters this doesn't seem as scary! I thought.

"Okay, I guess..." Sierra said, still a little hesitant.

"Great! I can pay you each 30 rupees to collect the materials I need," Barnes told us. I quickly did the math. If Kris could find at least 120 rupees, we would have enough for the shield.

"Alright! Just show us what to do!" I said brightly.

Rune and Link paused to catch their breath. They had found the second elder. He had given them his key shard and told them to go through this door to get a weapon sacred to the gorons.

"Ready?" Rune said

"For what?" Link inquired.

"There's probably a guard behind this door, and he won't be too happy about us being here."

"We just have to tell him the elder sent us." Link pushed open the door. Inside was a suspended platform, and standing on it was the biggest goron they had ever seen. He was at least twice as big as a regular goron, and he had on a metal helmet. Link walked onto the platform. "Hello, my name is..."

"Humans! How did humans get so far into our mines?" The goron jumped on the platform, and it fell into the lava below. As it bobbed up and down in the lava, Link fell to his knees, and the goron rolled toward him.

"Watch out!" Rune yelled from above. Link got up, and dodged the goron. He managed to stop before he hit the lava, and turned around again to charge at Link. He dodged again, but tripped and fell. As he knelt on the platform, he noticed that the floor was made of metallic, bluish materiel. He felt the rumbling of the goron, and quickly stood up, putting on the iron boots. He braced himself, and this time, caught the goron. The boots had stopped him from sliding off, and held him in place as he threw the huge goron off the platform, into the lava. The goron bounced up and down on the lava, yelling in pain. He bounced back onto the platform and Link slashed his exposed belly with his sword. The goron yelled, and curled up to charge at Link again. He caught the goron, and again threw him into the lava. This time, he took off his boots and ran to him, slashing him several times. The goron got up quicker than before, and Link had no time to put his boots on. He put his hands out to stop the goron, but it smashed into him, and he fell back toward the lava. Rune yelled, but he managed to grab onto the edge. However, the platform tilted, and Link's feet slipped into the molten rock. He screamed, and dragged himself back up onto the platform. Link tried to stand up, but he collapsed from the pain. He started to black out, knowing he could do nothing about the goron. Link felt rumbling on the platform, and realized that the goron was going to roll right into him, and knock him into the lava. He closed his eyes, but the impact never came. Opening them, he saw Rune, who had jumped onto the platform and grabbed his discarded boots. She was holding the goron, and yelling as she swung it around into the lava. When he landed, she took out her katana and slashed it. The gorons helmet fell off, and he roared in pain.

"Stop!" he gasped. "Who...who are you? You both have more strength than any other human I have met!"

"We are here to stop the monster in the mines. Here..." Rune pulled out the key shards. "The elders sent us to get the weapon you guard."

"Oh. I am sorry. I will let you both pass." The goron stepped aside, and the platform started rising on chains that fell and connected to it. Rune ran over to Link, who was still lying on the platform.

"Are you alright?" she frantically asked him.

"I-I think so. Thanks for saving me." He sat up, and hissed in pain. "Owww..."

"Looks like your feet got burned pretty bad. Ummm..." Rune searched her pockets. "Darn, I don't have any healing potions!"

"That's okay, I have one." Link took out a bottle filled with a red liquid, and took a drink of it. He made a face. "This stuff is really useful, but it tastes really gross!" Rune laughed. Midna appeared, and crossed her arms.

"Nice going, klutz. Can you walk now?"

"I don't know." Link slowly got to his feet. Rune grabbed his hand and helped him up. He took a few steps, and seemed just fine.

"Well, you can walk, so let's go!"

"Lay off him, he just had his feet burned in lava!" Rune scolded Midna as they started walking.

"Well, we need to go! You guys have already spent enough time messing around, especially that part with the ceiling-walking. I never knew you were so afraid of heights!" Midna giggled. "Or were you nervous for some other reason?"

"Shut up," Rune growled. Midna cackled, and vanished. They reached a room with a chest in it.

"That's got to be the weapon," Link said. "You should open it, you saved my life."

"No, you open it. You were nearly killed, I'd say you worked hard enough for it."

"Well, okay." Link opened the chest and pulled out a bow and quiver of arrows. "Cool!" Rune laughed at his childish exclamation. "I've always thought it would be fun to learn archery!"

"Well, you'll get plenty of practice! Let's go so we can get out of this place!" Rune was tired of all the heat, and she couldn't wait to get back to the cool outside.

**AN:**

Hello again! Sorry I forgot to post the results to the poll in the last chapter! For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, I asked everyone to post a review saying which of the four OC's are your favorite! So far we only have two votes: one for Rune and one for Lily. Enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review your favorite character! ^w^


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

I straightened up, wiping sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand. Sierra and I had been gathering a certain type of rock that Barnes used to make black powder for his bombs. The work didn't sound that hard, but it was pretty hot outside, and bending over to pick up the rocks was getting a little tiring. "It feels like the desert here!" I complained.

"Yeah, it is pretty hot, and dusty," Sierra agreed. "But imagine how hot it is inside those mines. Didn't you say there was lava in there?"

"Oh, yeah. Gosh, Rune and Link probably feel a lot hotter than we are now. Well, I think we have enough of these rocks. That magic bag of yours sure and in handy; imagine how hard it would be to carry all these back!"

"Haha, yep! Let's go give them to Barnes." As we walked back through the village, we ran into Kris.

"Hi guys! Guess what?"

"What?" I asked.

"I have 100 rupees so far!"

"Wow, that's great! We're helping out the bomb guy, and he's going to give us 60!" I informed her.

"So, that means..." Kris started counting on her fingers.

"We need 40 more," Sierra told her. "Do you think you can find that many?"

"Definitely! There are lots of places I haven't looked! Ooo, I bet there's some pots in the room below the sanctuary!" Kris ran off.

"Haha, she sure likes finding rupees!" Sierra pointed out.

"Tell me about it. Whenever we played together, she would always make me collect all the rupees before I could move on in the game!" We both laughed. We reached the bomb shop, and gladly stepped into the cooler inside.

"Hey, you're back already! Bring the rocks up here." Barnes led us to an area upstairs, and we unloaded the rocks from Sierra's bag. "That's a lot! You guys are great helpers! Alright, there's just one more thing I need y'all to do." He brought over a few bowls with rocks in theme for crushing. "There's a special ingredient in these stones that I use for mixing my bombs. I'll make the actual mixture, since it's my own special recipe. All I need you to do is crush the rocks with these. Don't worry, they're pretty soft, but be careful. The powder is very flammable, so don't do anything to light it on fire! Got it?" Sierra gulped, and we both nodded. "Great! I'll leave y'all to it then!" Barnes went downstairs, probably to get some other ingredients.

"Don't worry, we don't have anything that can set that on fire!" I assured Sierra, and we started crushing the rocks.

Link and Rune stepped into the next room. It was outdoors; there were a few platforms that rose above water that covered the entire floor of the room.

"Finally! Somewhere without lava!" Rune sighed. She ran forward to the center of the room. Link noticed a few bulbins standing on the higher platforms. They had bows and arrows, and a few of them had already taken aim at Rune.

"Watch out!" he called, and ran forward. He jumped in front or Rune, putting up his shield to protect them both. Three arrows hit the wooden shield.

"They're fire arrows!" Rune said as the shield started burning. Link threw it down before the flames reached his arm. He pulled Rune to the edge of one of the platforms, and they both jumped into the water below. Still pulling Rune with him, Link swam underneath a platform. They could hear arrows hitting the metal above them.

"We should wait here until we figure out what to do," Link said.

"Thanks for saving me. I should have looked before I ran out there, sorry," Rune apologized.

"Well, you saved me from the goron, so I guess we're even now!" Link smiled.

"What do we do about those monsters? If we go out there we'll get shot, and we can't get up onto that platform to fight them," Rune reasoned.

"Well, I noticed that their bows don't have a very good range. The bow we have is a lot more powerful, so we could shoot them from farther away than they can shoot us!"

"Great idea Link! Huh, why didn't I think of that?" Link laughed, and started swimming over to a ladder. Rune followed him, and they both climbed up. The monsters screeched, and started shooting at them. The arrows fell just short of them, landing at their feet. Rune laughed.

"You're right, they do have terrible range!" Link smiled, and took out his bow. Taking aim, he shot the first bulbin in the head. "Nice!" Rune exclaimed. Link shot all the others quickly. "Where did you learn to shoot that well?" Rune asked as the last monster fell into the water and disintegrated.

"I don't know! It just feels kind of natural," Link said, excited by his success.

"Well, I don't see anything else to do in this room. Let's keep going." Rune walked over to a door at the side of the room, and opened it. "Great, more lava," she said sarcastically as a wave of heat hit them. Link stepped forward, surveying the room and starting to figure out how to get through. "Hey, I'm hungry," Rune said abruptly.

"Huh?" Link hadn't been paying attention fully.

"It been, like, a day since we last ate. Let's stop for a snack."

"Um, okay." Link looked through his pouch. "All I have is some raw meat."

"Great! We can cook if over the lava!" Rune wiped one of her knives, and speared a chunk of meat on it. She sat down and held it over the lava. "Here!" She handed Link another knife. "I don't think you want to cook it on your sword."

"Thanks!" Link sat down next to her. Midna appeared from his shadow.

"What are you guys doing? We need to keep going! Don't stop for a snack!" Midna crossed her arms.

"Hey! I'm hungry! We're not going anywhere until I eat something!" Rune protested.

"Ugh, fine!" Midna sighed. "Just don't take too long!" Midna floated next to them for a while. "Hey, can I have some?" she said after a few minutes. Link laughed.

"Sure! You can have some of mine." They finished cooking their meat, and had a small meal on the rocks.

After pounding rocks for a while, Sierra stood up. "This is going to take forever! I think I know a faster way."

"What?" I asked, setting down the crushing tool and wiping powder off my hands.

"I could use my powers to crush the rocks! I mean, all I have to do is separate the particles of the rock!"

"That sounds great! You could do them all at once and it would only take like a second!"

"Okay!" Sierra faced the pile of rocks and took a deep breath. She spread her feet and raised her arms. Letting her breath out, she pushed her arms down, and the rocks disintegrated into powder. I clapped.

"Awesome! Do you think you could get it all into the bag?" I held up a sack Barnes had given us to put the powder in.

"Yeah, just hold it open for me!" Sierra lifted the powder, and dropped it into the bag. A huge puff of black dust rose up, and I sneezed.

"Sorry." Sierra giggled. "Your face covered in black dust!" I tried to wipe it off with my hands. Sierra laughed harder. "Now it's all smeared!"

"I'll wash my face later. C'mon! Lets go get the money!" I closed the sack, and ran downstairs. "Here!" I triumphantly held up the sack for Barnes to see.

"How did you... That was fast!" He smiled. "Oh well. However you did it, you both did real well. I appreciate your help!" He pulled out some rupees. "Here ya go! 30 for each of you!"

"Thank you!" I put the rupees in my pocket, and ran outside. Sierra thanked Barnes and followed me. Kris came running up to us.

"I have enough! Did you get your money?" she said excitedly.

"Yes! We can get the shield now!" I said, jumping up and down.

"You seem excited!" Sierra laughed. I smiled.

"C'mon!" I grabbed both their hands and dragged them to the shop. "Do you still have the shield?" I asked Malo.

"Yeah. You actually got the money?" He seemed surprised.

"Yep!" Sierra and I put our rupees on the counter, and Kris emptied a pile of the gems from her pockets. Malo counted them.

"200! Wow, where did you get all of this?"

"All over the place!" Kris said. "You can find rupees almost anywhere!"

"Okay then, here you go!" Malo handed me the hylian shield.

"Yes!" I held the shield up, admiring it.

"We got it!" Kris smiled.

"Finally," Sierra added. "Hey, we should get something for Rune too!"

"Yeah! What do you think she would like?" I asked.

"Some sort of new weapon, maybe?" Sierra suggested.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Kris said. "You guys helped the bomb guy a lot, so he should be able to sell bombs soon..."

"Yes! That's a great idea!" I agreed. We walked back to the shop to see if there were any bombs yet.

Link hesitated before following Rune.

"C'mon, what are you waiting for?" She looked back at him. "We have the last key shard, now lets go fight this guy and get it over with!"

"Okay! I guess I'm just a little tired," Link replied. Rune walked back to him.

"So am I. But we're almost done! As soon as we beat this guy, we can go back to the village, where it's cool, and we can go splash around in the spirit's spring!"

"That sounds nice!" Link smiled. "Alright, let's go." Rune put the key in the huge lock, and twisted it. The lock clicked, spun around, then fell off the door. Link and Rune both grabbed hold of the base, and lifted the heavy door. Heat blasted from the room. Link sighed. "Let's do this!" They both stepped into the darkness.

The boss room was bigger than any room they had encountered so far. Pillars supported the ceiling at the edges of the room, forming a circle. In the center, there was a huge beast, with chains around its wrists and ankles. Link and Rune could hear its breathing, loud and raspy. It slowly lifted its head, a strange gem on its forehead lighting up. When it sighted them, it roared, and its entire body caught on fire. The chains glowed, red hot.

"That's Fyrus, the cursed form of the gorons' patriarch," Midna informed them. Fyrus broke the chains binding it, and roared again. A wave of heat blasted them. Link and Rune dove behind two pillars.

"That thing will roast us if we get near it!" Rune shouted.

"How do we kill it if we can't get close?" Link shouted back. Rune thought back to when she fought Fyrus in the game.

"I remember! We have to hit it with the bow! Remember that glowing gem on its forehead?" Link nodded. "That's its weak spot! Shoot it with the bow!" The fire monster reached the pillar Link was hiding behind, and swung its fist at it. The pillar crumbled, but Link had already jumped out from behind it. He drew back an arrow, and missed. He shot three more arrows, and missed each time. He ran to another pillar, just before the monster shot a stream of flame at him.

"I can't hit it! Whenever I try to aim, it gets too close and almost burns me!"

"Shoot from farther away!" Rune yelled.

"I don't know if I can hit it from that far!" The monster smashed the pillar, and they dove out of the way of falling rocks.

"Give me that!" Rune took the bow from Link, and ran to the other side of the room. "Hey! Over here!" The monster turned its head toward her, and she shot it right in the gem. It roared in pain, and stumbled around, clutching its forehead. Link noticed the chains around its ankles trailing on the floor. He grabbed one, and pulled, trying to knock the monster off balance. Rune ran and pulled with him, but the monster just dragged them around the room.

"We need to stop sliding somehow!" Rune said. Link looked at the floor. It was covered in magnetic, blue metal. He equipped his iron boots, slamming down on the metal. The magnet hummed to life. Link pulled back on the chain, with the boots locking him in place. Fyrus stopped walking.

"Pull harder!" Midna called. Link pulled as hard as he could, and Fyrus toppled over. Rune ran over to its head, and got out her katanas. She stabbed the monster's gem with both of them, and it roared again. Fyrus got up, and let out a blast of heat. Link and Rune ran back to the other side of the room. Rune shot it again, and Link quickly ran over and pulled the chain, his boots keeping him from sliding. This time, when the monster fell, they both slashed at its gem, doing twice the damage. Fyrus tried to get up, but fell back down, breathing hard.

"On three, stab it!" Rune said. "One...two...three!" Both Link and Rune brought their swords down into the monster's gem. It shattered, and Fyrus started thrashing around in pain. Slowly, his fire went out, and he exploded into black squares. A smaller figure collapsed to the ground, while the squares spread out toward the edges of the room. The squares floated there for a second, then they all rushed toward the center, condensing into a black piece of what looked like armor. The fused shadow floated above Link's hand. Midna appeared from his shadow.

"I'll take that!" She grabbed the fused shadow with her hand-shaped hair. "Just one more to go! You know, you've been really helpful lately. I don't think I could've gotten this without your help. So...thanks." Link and Rune smiled. The figure that had fallen to the floor sat up, shaking its head. It was a huge goron, about as big as the one guarding the bow.

"What happened? How did I get in here?" He looked around, confused. "Hey, you two, what are you doing here? Humans are not allowed inside our mines!" Rune sighed.

"Here we go again," she said under her breath.

"We have permission from the elders. We were just getting something," Link explained.

"You mean the element?"

"What element?" Rune immediately spoke up.

"One of the four elemental powers is supposedly kept in this room. It is supposed to appear only to the one worthy to wield it. Of course, none of us has seen it, so no one really believes that old legend!" the goron's patriarch said in a booming voice. Just then, a bright light shone through the room. Everything seemed to darken as a small ball of red light appeared in the middle.

"The element of fire," Rune breathed.

"I think it's for you," Link said softly. Rune stepped toward the light. _Bearer of the element fire. _A voice came from the light. _Will you accept this power? Will you use it to fight for good and drive away the darkness?_

"Yes," Rune said confidently, smiling in anticipation. The ball of light floated toward her and engulfed her in red light. Link shielded his eyes from the brightness. When the light faded, Rune was surrounded by flames. She punched the air, and a ball of fire shot forward into the wall. "Awww, yeah! This is awesome!"

"Rune..." Link was staring at her.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You-you look different."

"Huh?" Rune looked at her hand. She gasped. It was blue! Her skin, which had a slight tint before, had turned a light shade of blue-grey. Black markings were on her face and arms, and her eyes were a bright, fiery red. Rune's hair had grown; now it was almost waist-length, and it had turned black. An orange streak was on the right side of her hair. She felt her ears; they were pointed like a hylian's.

"Whoa, this is weird," she said, holding a strand of her hair.

"You're a Twili!" Midna said.

"A-a Twili? How am I a Twili? I'm a human!" Rune said, confused.

"The element must have changed your race for some reason. Maybe it thought fire powers were better suited to a being of the twilight," Midna guessed.

"That kinda makes sense, I guess. Wow, I look kinda weird, but cool! What do you think?" Rune looked at Link.

"You look...beautiful." Link blushed as he realized what he said. Rune smiled, her blush contrasting with the blue-grey of her skin.

"Alright, c'mon you two. Stop flirting and let's get going! We still have one more fused shadow to find, and your friends probably want to see you again!" Midna created a portal out of the dungeon.

"Midna..." Link sighed, embarrassed.

"Let's go. I'm ready to get out of here! I can't wait to see the others!" Rune said. Link smiled and nodded in agreement. Together, they stepped into the portal. Midna spun around and they all dissolved into black squares, leaving behind the fiery mountain.

**AN:**

Hey again! Rune is now in the lead for favorite character with two votes! Lily still has one and the others don't have any yet. And shipping is allowed, for those who asked, though not all of it will be cannon XD Keep posting your votes if you're reading this, and enjoy this chapter with the first boss battle ^w^


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Sierra, Kris and I sat on our beds. We had a bag of bombs from the shop, given to us for free by Barnes for "all our hard work", and the shield on the shelf in our room. I had covered it with a blanket so it would be a surprise for them.

"What do you guys want to do while we wait for them to get back?" Sierra asked.

"I don't know," Kris said. "There's not really anything useful we can do."

"We could play a game," I suggested.

"Like what?" Sierra asked.

"I don't know. I was hoping you guys had some ideas." Kris laughed.

"Nope."

"How about we go check on that Colin kid? He should be mostly healed by now," Sierra suggested.

"Yeah!" I agreed enthusiastically. We walked to the sanctuary. Colin was sitting on the floor playing some sort of game with Beth. "Colin! You look so much better!" I greeted him.

"Renado helped me a lot!" Colin smiled.

"What are you playing?" Kris asked.

"You try to shoot this big marble and knock the most little marbles out of the ring," Beth explained.

"Oh cool! I've played that game before!" Kris sat down next to Beth. "Can I play?"

"Sure!" Beth laughed.

"You can play for me," Colin offered. "I want to try and walk around outside for a bit."

"I'll go with you!" I said.

"Okay!" He took my hand and smiled. Sierra stayed to watch the game, and we went outside to the spring. Colin seemed tired, but he walked just fine. "I like the spring! For some reason, I feel stronger in the water."

"That's because of the spirit's power." I smiled.

"The light spirit you guys were talking to?"

"Yep."

"I heard him say something about you guys controlling the elements or something."

"Yeah, they're hidden all over Hyrule, and we each are supposed to get one. Sierra already has earth."

"Oh. That sounds cool." His face fell slightly. "Does that mean you're leaving after Link and Rune get back?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, we'll come back to see you though!"

"Promise?" Colin looked at me hopefully.

"Promise." I smiled. I heard a small click, and looked up. A small portal had appeared in the sky.

"What's that?" Colin asked. Some black squares came out of the portal, and fell toward the spring. Two figures formed; two figures that I recognized.

"Rune! Link!" Colin and I ran toward them. I nearly tackled Rune in a hug.

"Geez, I haven't been gone that long," she laughed, and hugged me back.

"How are you guys? Did you get the fused shadow? Wait a second..." I looked at Rune again. "Omigosh, Rune you're blue!" She and Link burst out laughing. Colin and I laughed too. "C'mon, lets go tell the others you're back!" I grabbed both their hands and dragged them back to the sanctuary, with Colin following behind. As soon as we walked in, Sierra and Kris looked over.

"You're back!" Sierra got up and walked over and hugged Rune. Kris ran over and almost tackled her like I did. I joined them in a group hug.

"C'mon Link!" Kris said teasingly. "You too!" He hesitantly walked over and we pulled him in, laughing. We broke apart, and the kids ran over, asking Link and Rune a million questions.

"Did you help the gorons?" Beth asked.

"Yep! They should be more friendly now. You guys will love them!" Rune said.

"Were they big? Did they attack you? How did you get past them?" Talo asked.

"Did you see their home? Was it filled with lava? Rune, why are you blue? And what happened to your hair?" Beth asked, bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Slow down, children!" Renado laughed. "I'm sorry, they have been excited for your return."

"That's okay! We can tell them what happened!" Rune said.

"I want to hear too!" Kris said.

"I think we all would," I agreed.

"Okay then!" Link motioned for us to sit down. "Well, to get to the goron's home, we had to get past them by..." He told us how they used the iron boots to fight their way into the mountain, and described the sumo match he fought with the leader. Rune told us about the complicated rooms they had to figure out how to get through. Link described the intense battle with the goron guard, and the later battle with the huge monster Fyrus. He was very good at telling the story, making it sound intense and exciting. The children listened, spellbound, and even I found myself tensed slightly at the dangerous parts. Finally, Rune told us about the fire element, and her mysterious transformation into a Twili. It was night by the time they finished, and some of the children were starting to nod off.

"I think it's time for you guys to go to bed." Renado helped the kids to their feet. "I owe you my thanks, both of you. You have restored peace between this village and the gorons, and I am very grateful." He bowed to both of them. "You may all stay here as long as you need. You are always welcome in Kakariko."

"Thank you, but we should be moving on soon," Link said. "The Lanayru province is still covered in twilight, and we must make sure the other lands are safe from it."

"Very well. Your actions are noble, much like the hero of old legend. You both seem very similar, now that I think about it. Well, goodnight, all of you."

"Goodnight." Link said. We all went outside. The moon was bright above our heads, and the night air was cool. We started walking to the inn.

"Who's this 'hero of legend' everyone keeps talking about?" Sierra asked. Link's eyes brightened.

"I'll tell you back at the inn. It's kind of a long story, but you'll love it!" I wondered why he seemed so excited.

Back at the inn, we got some food and brought it up to the bedroom. We all sat down on our beds, or in Rune and Link's case on the floor.

"So, who is the hero? What did he do that everyone remembers him for?" Sierra asked. Link smiled.

"Every child in the village grew up with this story. It was my favorite when I was young. The legend says that long ago, there was a young boy. He was a hylian, but he lived with the forest children. One day, he left his home, and traveled to the castle town. He went to the castle, and met the princess. Together, they stopped an evil man from taking over Hyrule. The boy traveled the world, even leaving Hyrule sometimes. He became the best warrior the land ever knew. He stopped the last of the evil forces from attacking the land, and brought an era of peace. Some people say that one day, the evil man will threaten Hyrule again, but the hero will always appear to defeat him!"

"Wow. That's what's happening now!" Sierra said.

"Yeah," Link said quietly. "The spirits say that I'm the hero the land has waited for. But I'm not so sure."

"Why not?" Rune asked.

"Well, I've fought monsters and stuff, but I only did it to help my friends. What about everyone else? I don't know if I can protect all of Hyrule! It's so much!" he said, his voice rising. "The hero was legendary for his courage and strength, but what if I can't live up to that?"

"But you can!" I said. "You already have! Do you think a regular farm boy can challenge the king of the bulbins? Or fight their way through lava-filled mines?"

"Well.."

"You can protect Hyrule! You've already done so much for this village. And don't forget, you're not alone!" I reminded him.

"Yeah! You've got us!" Kris said.

"The hero had help from the sages, didn't he?" I remembered.

"Yeah, he did. But how did you know that?" Link asked me.

"I've heard the story before. I actually know a lot of Hyrule's history." I have played most of the games, so I did know all about those "stories" he had probably heard. Now I was curious to know just how much the hylians remembered. Kris laughed knowingly.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Kris smiled. "We got something for you guys!"

"Oh, yeah!" I ran over to the blanket covering the shield and bombs. I pulled out the bomb bag. "This is for you, Rune!" I beamed when she looked inside.

"Nice!" She pulled out a bomb. "This is so cool! I can blow stuff up now!" She laughed evilly, and Link looked a little nervous. I laughed at the look on his face.

"Don't worry, she won't go crazy. I noticed that your shield is gone."

"Yeah, it got burned up in the mines."

"Well, we got a new one for you!" I handed him the shield. "It's made of metal!"

"Whoa." He took the shield, turning it over. "It's amazing!" He slid his right hand into the straps. "It's so light!" I laughed.

"That's what I thought! There's something else. That is the exact same shield the hero of time used!"

"What?" Link looked shocked. "This is his shield?"

"Yeah!" Kris said, smiling.

"We thought you should have it. You know, since you're the next hero," Sierra said. Rune leaned over.

"That looks pretty strong! It should last forever!" she said. Link smiled at us.

"Thank you all so much!" He put the shield with his sword on the ground. I beamed.

"So, when are we going to the next part of twilight?" Rune asked.

"Ha, you're just excited because you get to keep your form there!" Kris said.

"Yep!" Rune smiled.

"Well, I'd like to leave as soon as possible!" I said. "I wanna see the castle town!" Sierra smiled.

"How about we leave tomorrow morning?" she suggested.

"Sounds good to me, as long as we can sleep in a little," Rune agreed.

"I thought you were the one who always got up early," Link pointed out.

"I'm tired! We never got a break in the mines to sleep!"

"We weren't there for very long..." Link mumbled. I giggled.

"Okay then! We'll sleep in tomorrow until, ten maybe? And then we'll go to the next province!"

"Okay," Rune agreed sleepily. She lay down on the floor. We all got into our beds, and fell asleep.

**AN:**

I know, this is the second chapter in one day w but I will be busy tomorrow so I'm doing it now. And by busy I meant riding in a van for twelve hours halfway across the country with no internet connection -.-' I promise they will be continuing their journey in the next chapter, this one is mostly a filler, but enjoy anyway!


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

I was the first one up the next morning. It looked like we had a few minutes, so I went outside. The morning air felt fresh and cool. I smiled. The land of Hyrule was beautiful so far, and all I had seen was the fields and Kakariko village. Today, we would go to the next twilight realm, and as soon as we restored the land to light, we would get to see everything! The town, the lake, even the desert I was excited to see. I was impatient to get moving, so I went inside to wake everyone up. Kris was just sitting up in bed, rubbing her eyes.

"Morning!" she said sleepily. "Are you excited about today?"

"Yes!" I beamed.

"I can't wait to see the lake! I love that area in the game, and we get to go swimming in it!"

"Yeah. Can you swim when you're a snake?"

"I think so. Sure would be hard to get around if I couldn't." Kris laughed. "Let's try to wake up Sierra." We walked over and ripped the covers off. She groaned and glared at us.

"I would have gotten up if you just asked. I'm excited about being a wolf again today!" I smiled.

"Me too! Well, I'll be a dog. C'mon, let's wake the others up. Rune was a little cranky at first, but she got up when we reminded her where we were going. Link wouldn't get up at first; I guessed that dungeon had really taken its toll on him. But Rune smacked him with a pillow and he got up, rubbing his nose.

"You hit hard!" he groaned. Rune laughed.

"C'mon, sleepyhead! I wanna go see the twilight again!" We all followed her downstairs and packed up some food in Sierra and Link's bags. Link untied Epona's reigns from a post outside the hotel.

"I guess we'll have to walk to the twilight since we only have one horse," Sierra said.

"Yeah," Rune sighed. "I wish we all had horses."

"Epona can probably carry two people. Maybe we could all take turns riding her so we won't get worn out," Link suggested.

"Yeah, but wouldn't she get tired?" Sierra asked, concerned. "We would have to give her a break!"

"Of course," Link said. "Let's get going."

"Shouldn't we say goodbye to everyone?" I asked.

"They're probably still asleep," Link said. "Don't worry, we'll probably see them again soon." He started leading Epona out of the village, and we followed him. We could see the black wall of twilight in the distance, but it looked really far away. Rune sighed.

"Well, we have a long way to walk. We should save Epona's energy and only ride her if we're really tired."

"Yep." I said. "Let's get going." We walked for a few hours before we started getting tired. Everyone seemed determined to keep going as long as they could without stopping for a break on Epona.

"Sierra, can I have some water?" Kris panted. Sierra pulled out a flask and gave it to her.

"Does anyone hear that?" Link stopped and stood still. I listened closely.

"I don't hear anything."

"Me neither," Sierra said, "but I can feel the earth rumbling a little."

"Wait, I hear it," Rune said. "It sounds like something's coming. Maybe it's more of those boar-riding goblin creatures?" After a few seconds, I called out.

"I can hear it now! Sounds like there's a lot of them!" Suddenly, the source of the noise came galloping over the crest of the hill in front of us. It was a small herd of horses. There were four of them. One seemed to be the leader; a pitch black stallion was running out in front. Behind him were three mares; one was light brown with a white streak on her muzzle and a short, dark brown mane and tail. She was prancing around happily, seemingly without a care in the world. The smallest horse had a silver speckled coat, with white stockings, a white star on her nose, and a white mane and tail. She was a bit more careful when she ran than the brown horse. The last one was white with a long, golden mane and tail. All the horses stopped when they saw us. The black stallion stepped forward in front of Epona, glaring at her as if telling her to get out of their way. Epona boldly stared back, not moving a step. The brown horse with the dark mane happily trotted up to us, tossing her head. The stallion snorted angrily as if ordering her to get back with the herd. The white horse with the golden mane stepped in between the stallion and the brown mare, seeming to defend her. The silver speckled horse stayed behind the stallion, shyly glancing at us. The brown horse continued walking toward us. Kris ran up to meet her.

"Hi there!" Kris said brightly. The mare nuzzled her happily and whinnied.

"I think she likes you Kris," I laughed. Kris hugged the horses neck.

"I think she wants to come with us!" Kris said. "Can we keep her?"

"Well, another horse would be helpful," I thought aloud. The black stallion angrily snorted, and charged toward Kris.

"Hey!" Rune shouted, and jumped in front of the black horse. He reared up. "Stop that! Leave her alone, bossy!" She grabbed his bridle and forced his face down to hers, glaring at him. The stallion calmed down, although still staring angrily at Kris. "Ha! Not so tough when someone stands up to you, huh?" Rune grinned. "We should take him with us too. I think he's the leader, the mares should follow him, so we'll all have horses!"

"Great idea Rune!" Link said.

"Yay! I can keep her!" Kris hugged the brown horse, who tossed her head happily. "We should name them!"

"Hmm, what would be a good name for you?" Rune wondered, looking at the stallion. "Nightmare! It suits both your dashing good looks and your high-and-mighty attitude." The stallion snorted.

"I'll call mine Skippy!" Kris exclaimed. "Cause she's skips around a lot, and her coat kinda looks like peanut butter!"

"Oh, like the brand! Haha, good one!" I told Kris.

"What's peanut butter?" Link asked, confused.

"A food from our world," I explained. The white mare who had defended Skippy stepped forward calmly. She looked at me, and I saw her eyes brighten. She walked over toward me, and playfully nudged me. It was harder than I expected, and I fell over. She neighed, sounding almost as if she were laughing. I got up, also laughing. "I think we're gonna be friends!" I hugged her, and she nuzzled me back. "I'll call you Starlight. That's a pretty name!" That last horse, the shy silver one, finally stepped toward us. Her walk was very graceful and careful. Sierra walked up to her.

"I guess that leaves you with me!" Sierra smiled at the horse. She seemed to overcome her shyness, and stepped closer to Sierra. "Soulrunner. I like that name!" Soulrunner whinnied in agreement.

"They all seem to fit you perfectly!" Link said, smiling. "It's lucky that we ran into them, huh?"

"Or maybe it was destiny!" Kris laughed.

"I think they are here for a reason. Look, they all have saddles and bridles on!" Sierra pointed out. "They aren't a wild herd. Someone must have sent them here!"

"Well, I'm not complaining!" Rune mounted Nightmare, and he stomped his hoof in protest. "Now we don't have to walk, and we can go a heck of a lot faster!" Sierra climbed on top of Soulrunner, while she stood perfectly still. Kris climbed on Skippy's back, with some difficulty as Skippy was moving around in excitement. I looked at Starlight, and she jerked her head toward her back. I smiled and climbed up. Sitting in the saddle felt perfectly comfortable and natural. Link was already on top of Epona.

"Ready?" he asked us.

"Hey, let's have a race!" Rune suggested.

"Yeah!" Kris agreed. "That'll be fun!"

"Okay!" I said enthusiastically. "I can see the wall a little bit ahead, how about that is the finish line?"

"Um, have any of you guys ridden a horse before? Because I haven't," Sierra said skeptically.

"Nope."

"Uh-uh." Rune and Kris shook their heads.

"A few times, but never faster than a trot," I said.

"Well, I don't know if this..." Sierra began, but Nightmare took off running.

"Whoa!" Rune almost fell off at the sudden burst of speed. Regaining her balance, she tilted her head back and erupted into a fit of loud, gleeful laughter. "Woohoo! Yeah!"

"Haha, no fair!" I laughed, and nudged Starlight in the sides. She understood, and took off running after them. I heard Link and Kris running behind us, and Sierra followed in last. Riding her was a lot easier than I thought. I felt a sense of complete freedom as we sped along. I laughed joyfully, and spurred her on faster. I looked to the sides, and saw that Kris and Link had caught up with me. Soulrunner was still gracefully galloping behind us. Link grinned at me, and squeezed Epona's sides. They both sped up, passing me and Kris. Skippy was happily galloping, not caring about the race.

"C'mon Starlight. Let's show them how to race!" I leaned forward in the saddle. Starlight neighed, and jumped forward in a burst of speed. Exhilarated, I whooped as we sped past Link, and then past Rune and Nightmare. I waved as I passed her, and she spurred Nightmare even faster, grinning. He snorted, and caught up. We were both neck-and-neck, trying to pull ahead, but Nightmare and Starlight were almost equal in speed. Suddenly, Epona sped past us, with Link laughing on top of her. I looked behind us, and saw Sierra and Kris catching up, but they were simply laughing and talking while still managing to keep up with us. Nightmare and Starlight sped up, and caught up with Epona. The three of us raced together, nobody really trying to pull ahead. We all smiled, excited at the speed of our horses. Suddenly, the sky began to darken. The horses slowed down, suddenly nervous. Sierra and Kris caught up. All five of us stood side by side, and staring at the black wall of twilight looming in front of us.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

We all got off our horses. Small dust clouds rose as our feet hit the ground. The sky got even darker as we walked toward the twilight. Soulrunner whinnied, nervously shifting her weight. Sierra patted her muzzle.

"Don't worry, we'll be back soon!" she said. Skippy also seemed scared of the twilight, and even Nightmare was a little reluctant to let Rune go into the darkness.

"Scared? Ha, don't worry, I'm not leaving you for long!" Rune smirked, and gave him a quick pat. I could tell Starlight wasn't happy, but she seemed to understand that I needed to go. I smiled and hugged her.

"We'll be alright," I whispered. Starlight snorted, and I realized she probably couldn't understand me.

"Let's go." Link stepped away from Epona, her understanding what he was doing. We all followed him. I looked back. Starlight and the other horses still looked slightly worried.

"Maybe we should come back, just for a minute, where we're animals. We can talk to them and let them know we're okay," I suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Sierra said. "Umm, I think it should just be you and me. Rune won't become an animal, and they might be afraid of Link and Kris."

"Sounds okay to me. It will only take a minute anyway," Link agreed. He took a deep breath. "Midna!" he called. She popped out of his shadow.

"Do you want to enter the twilight?" she asked.

"Yes." Midna floated through the wall, and violently grabbed Link, pulling him through. I jumped a little.

"Sheesh, you'd think she could be a little more gentle!" Rune walked over to the wall. "I'll pull you guys through one at a time." She walked through the wall. Her hand poked back through the wall. I grabbed it, and she pulled me through. I wasn't freaking out like last time, so I noticed the strange feeling of passing through the wall. It felt like I was moving through thick syrup, but it was freezing. Pressing on me, the wall felt suffocating. I gasped when I reached the other side. A sharp pain shot through my body, and I collapsed on my knees. Again, I felt my body reshaping. When the pain was over, I stood up, once again a dog. Rune had already pulled Kris and Sierra through, and they finished transforming into a snake and a wolf.

_Alright! _Link walked over to us, Midna riding on his back now that he was a wolf. _Lily and Sierra, Midna can teleport you back outside so you can talk to the horses. The rest of us will wait here until you get back._

_Okay!_ I walked over and looked at Midna.

"I'm going to have to teleport you guys, aren't I?" I nodded. Midna sighed. "Okay. Try not to take too long." She floated above Sierra and me. I felt a rushing sensation as the world around me dissolved. Suddenly, we were back in the light world. Midna's shadow form floated next to me.

"Alright, make it quick you two." She sunk down into Sierra's shadow. We saw the horses a few yards away, and ran up to them. Soulrunner reared up in fright.

_Calm down. They won't hurt you._ Starlight was talking! Soulrunner calmed down. Nightmare ran up right in front of us.

_Who are you?_ He said in a deep, threatening voice. Sierra backed up, a bit nervous now that the stallion towered over her. I was scared too. He could crush us with his hoof if he chose! I stood my ground though.

_I am Lily, and this is Sierra._

_You have the same names as those humans_, Nightmare noticed.

_Yes, because we are those humans. That black wall you saw was the twilight. Whenever we go there, we turn into animals,_ I explained.

_Why? _Skippy asked curiously.

_I'm not really sure. But, obviously, we can talk to you in this form, so we came back to tell you about where we went._

_You went inside that big scary wall?_ Soulrunner said nervously.

_Don't worry, we're fine! We'll all be back to normal after the twilight goes away._ Sierra reassured her. Soulrunner happily bend down and nuzzled Sierra, no longer afraid because she was a wolf. I looked up at Starlight.

_Will you be alright out here?_ I asked her.

_Don't worry_, she laughed, _I'll take care of the others._ She leaned closer. _Don't tell him I said this, but the one you call Nightmare doesn't always do a good job looking after them. He's kinda reckless._ I laughed.

_Sounds like Rune! She's his rider, and she can be pretty reckless too._

_Lily, we should get going!_ Sierra called.

_Good luck! _Starlight said brightly. _I'll see you later, master._

_Master?_

_Yeah, you're the human who rides me, right?_ Starlight said, a smile in her voice. I wagged my tail in appreciation, and hugged her leg, the highest part of her I could reach.

_I'll be back soon! Bye!_ I walked to Sierra and Midna, who had floated out of her shadow.

"You guys ready?" We nodded, and Midna teleported back to the others. Kris had crawled on top of Link's head, and was resting there, curled up. Link looked pretty irritated, and Rune was sitting on the ground, laughing like crazy. That, of course, added to his irritation, and I collapsed to the ground, mentally giggling. Midna floated over and lifted Kris off of his head. "What are you guys doing? Stop messing around!"

_Aww, _Kris thought, _but it's warm up there!_ I burst out laughing again. It must have sounded strange for a dog to be laughing, because Midna and Rune looked at me funny. Midna walked over to me and pushed me over.

"Quit doing that! C'mon, we have to get moving!" She jumped on Link's back.

_Yeah, whatever Miss bossy!_ I said, knowing she couldn't hear me. Link snickered. We all started walking across the field. A few monsters attacked us, but the others easily took care of them. I was still reluctant to use my mouth for attacking. Ewww! At the end of the path, we saw something lying on the ground. I ran ahead and looked at it. It was a small bag, with a strap attached to it.

_Ooo, pretty!_ Kris slithered next to me. _Can I keep it?_ I laughed.

_I think it already belongs to someone._ I looked over at Link. He was sniffing the bag, and seemed to recognize the scent.

_Ilia,_ he said wistfully.

"You smell the girl, don't you?" Midna said knowingly.

"What girl?" Rune asked.

"I think she's some childhood friend of Link's. She was captured by monsters with the other kids, but they took her somewhere else. I guess she's somewhere nearby, because this is her bag."

"Oh." Rune said, remembering. I remembered too. Ilia was a girl from Link's village that had lost her memory. _Aww, Link's going to be disappointed when he finds out_, I thought.

_I can track her with this scent_! Link said, excited to see his friend again. Sierra picked the bag up with her teeth.

_What are you doing?_ I asked.

_We should give her bag back when we see her._ Sierra walked over to Rune.

"You want me to carry this?" Rune grabbed the bag and strapped it to her belt. "Okay. I'm guessing you want to give it to her?" Sierra nodded.

_C'mon! _Link started sniffing the ground, following the scent trail. We all followed him through the field, taking out a few monsters. After a while, we came to castle town. She went in there! Link said, and ran inside. We followed him along the streets of the town. I could sense a bunch of spirits walking around, continuing their daily lives and oblivious to the threat outside. Link led us through the center of the town and down the south road. To the right, there was a side street leading to a small alley, with a door in the back.

_Telma's bar, _I read the sign next to the door.

_She's in there! _Link pushed the slightly ajar door open with his nose, and we all went inside. The bar had two rooms: the main room with the actual bar and some tables, and a smaller room connected to it in the back. There was a table, and a few spirits in the back area.

_Hey, let's go see what's over there! _Kris said to Sierra, and they went to the back table. I could see a few spirits by a bench in the main room. I pointed them out to Link, and we walked over and sensed. There was a little zora boy unconscious on the bench. Standing next to him was a lady, Telma, and...

_Ilia!_ Link ran toward her, but she took no notice of him.

_They can't see us, remember?_ I reminded him. His face fell, and he gazed up longingly at his friend.

"What do we do? We need to help this boy!" Ilia seemed very concerned about the zora.

"Hmm, I'm not sure, honey." Telma put her hand on Ilia's shoulder. "I'm sure we'll figure something out." Ilia put her face in her hands.

_She's so upset,_ Link said. _I can't do anything!_ He seemed on the verge of tears.

_Link, don't worry. She will be fine! Once we get rid of the twilight, we can help her and the boy! _I reassured him. He looked at me gratefully.

_You're right. Thank you_. Sierra and Kris walked back over to us.

_Hey, we heard some soldiers talking back there! _Kris said. _Apparently, the spirit's spring is in Lake Hylia, and that's not too far from here!_

_We saw a map, and I remember where we have to go!_ Sierra said happily.

_Great! Lead the way!_ I said. Sierra and Kris led us back outside the town and through more of Hyrule field. We came to a stone bridge.

_The lake should be below that bridge, _Sierra said. We ran onto it. A few steps in, I sniffed the air.

_Hey, do any of you smell something funny?_

_Yeah,_ Link said, _it kinda smells like...oil._

_Why would oil be on a bridge? _Sierra wondered. I struggled to remember. I knew the oil was important somehow, but I couldn't remember why.

_Look, a monster! _Kris yelled. A twilight bokoblin was standing at the other end of the bridge.

"Uh-oh." Rune nervously backed up. "It's going to set the bridge on fire!"

_Run!_ I shouted. The monster shot a lit arrow at the back of the bridge, and fire started moving toward us. It lit the other end of the bridge, and flames started traveling toward us from both sides.

_We're trapped!_ Kris shouted. Sierra started to panic.

_Calm down, I'm sure there's a way out of this,_ I reassured them, while frantically thinking of a way out. I remembered the lake below us. _The lake! We can jump down into the lake! C'mon, help me push this box so we can climb over the edge! _The fire was really close now. Rune stood in the middle, and took a deep breath. She extended her arms, and the fire slowed down.

"I can hold it back for a little while. Hurry! Push that box and jump off the bridge!" Link and Sierra stood side by side, since they were bigger, and they shoved the box over to the edge.

_Climb onto me Kris!_ Sierra shouted. Kris wrapped around Sierra's head, and she climbed onto the box. _Umm, that's really far down! _She hesitated.

_Go!_ I barked at her, and she closed her eyes and jumped. Link climbed up, and jumped off immediately, howling as he fell. I tried to climb up, but the box was too high for me. I barked, starting to panic. Rune stopped holding the fire back, grabbed me, and jumped off the bridge just as the fire reached the middle. She let go of me as we fell through the air, her laughing and me howling. We hit the water with a loud splash, and I sunk several feet, the wind knocked out of me. I frantically paddled upward, and gasped for air as my head broke the surface. The others were bobbing in the water around me, Kris still curled up on Sierra's head.

_Everyone okay? _Link asked.

_Yeah_, I gasped.

_Yep! _Kris said brightly. _That was fun!_

_Easy for you to say, you're not the one who hit the water while falling at full speed_, Sierra groaned.

"Huh, this is a lake?" Midna scoffed. "More like a puddle! Where's all the water?"

"I dunno, but let's get out of what water there is!" Rune started swimming toward the shore, and we all followed. When I got out, I shook myself to get all the water off, but I happened to be standing right next to Rune. "Hey!" she protested as I shook water all over her. She wrung out her hair and the edge of her shirt. Sierra and Link shook the water off themselves, while Kris simply dropped to the ground, not caring that she was wet.

_Hey, what's over there?_ Kris slithered over to a strange-looking house with a spirit floating in front of it. We walked over, and listened to the spirit. He complained about having no business because the water went down.

"I bet those zoras have something to do with it. The source is in their domain, maybe they did something to cut off the river." He looked across the lake, and yelled. A monster was standing on the other side of the lakebed.

"Great. Let's go take care of it." Rune led the way over to the monster.

_At least there's only one! _Kris pointed out. The monster picked of a blade of hawk-shaped grass and blew into it. A melody rang out, followed shortly by the sound of flapping wings. A huge twilight bird flew over, nearly hitting Rune. She ducked as it flew over to the monster. It jumped up onto the bird's back, and made it charge toward us. We all scattered as it hit the ground where we were. Link took advantage of this and jumped on the monster, knocking it off the bird. He bit it as it got up, and it fell back to the ground. The bird was flapping around wildly. Rune ran toward it, and vaulted onto its back. She grabbed the reins, and it calmed down when it sensed a new rider.

"Heh, good bird! I bet we can use it to fly up to the river's source and figure out what happened to the water!"

"Huh, good idea." Midna said, impressed. "Why didn't I think of that? You should take one of these guys with you, for backup if there are monsters. I'll stay with the rest to make sure they don't run away or something dumb like that." Link and I both glared at her.

"Okay. Hmm, I guess I'll bring Lily with me."

"Why? She hasn't killed a single monster so far!"

"Hey, she's my friend! Plus, she's pretty good at coming up with plans or whatever! Fighting isn't the only valuable skill someone can have, you know?"

"Ugh, fine. Make sure you don't take forever!" Rune grinned, and flew the bird over to me. I yelped in surprise as it picked me up in its talons. We flew over to the place where the river used to flow in and started flying through a tunnel of sorts. Rune maneuvered the bird around a few rocks. Suddenly, an arrow flew past my head. I barked to warn Rune of the monsters firing at us from the rocks below. She flew the bird up, swerving to avoid arrows. One grazed my side as we made it past the monsters.

"Sorry!" Rune yelled down to me. We continued flying until we came to the end of the tunnel. The bird dropped me on the dry riverbed and Rune jumped off beside me.

"Well, that was fun!" I nodded, trying to ignore the small cut on my side. "Alright, I think the river comes from that direction!" She pointed, and we started walking. I noticed it was getting a lot colder. Rune shivered. "Let me see if I can make a small fire to warm us up a little." She held out her hand, and a flame appeared, instantly warming the air around us. "Sweet." Up ahead, there was a huge wall of ice, towering over us. "I think we need to climb that." Rune looked up. I noticed small shelves of ice protruding from the wall. I bet I can climb those! I thought. Taking a running start, I jumped onto the first ledge. I focused, and jumped to a second ledge higher up. "Oh, I see what you're doing!" Rune watched me scramble my way up the frozen waterfall. One block of ice I jumped on wobbled and started falling, but I quickly jumped to the next one. I slipped as I landed, and slid off the edge. Rune yelled as I hung by my paws. I struggled and kicked my feet to climb back up, and barely managed it. I quickly jumped to the last ledge, and made it to the top of the waterfall. I sat there, panting. "Are you okay?" I heard Rune yell up. I barked to let her know I was fine. "I'm going to do what you did now!" I heard her grunting with effort below me, jumping up the protrusions of ice. A few minutes later, she climbed up to where I was. She flopped on the ice, breathing heavily. "That was actually pretty hard. Well, better go see what's inside." She got up, and we walked into what looked like a throne room. "It's empty. I thought there would be zoras here." Rune walked around the room, looking for the floating blue spirits. I looked at my feet, and saw spirits beneath the floor of ice. I sensed, and saw a bunch of zoras, frozen while swimming. I barked loudly, startling Rune. "What is it?" I scratched at the ice. She looked down, and saw the spirits. "Are those zoras?" I nodded. "They're all frozen! How do we unfreeze them?" I nudged her with my nose. "What do you want me to do?" I shivered. "Are you still cold? Here..." She made a small flame. She looked at the ice, then at me. "Ohhhhhh!" I rolled my eyes. "Right! I can melt the ice with my fire. Sorry. But to be fair, I'm still kinda new at this." We both went to the solid rock part of the floor. "Alright." Rune breathed deeply. Flames started forming around her hands. With each breath, they grew bigger. Soon, she was holding a colossal ball of fire. With a yell, she threw it down into the ice. The heat created an explosion of water that had been pushing to get out of the ice, and it rushed outside. The frozen waterfall collapsed, and the river started flowing again. "That was sweet!" Rune laughed. "C'mon, the lake should fill up now and we can get to the spirit's spring!" We started running outside. _Wait..._ A gentle voice stopped us. Turning around, I saw a beautiful zora woman, floating above the water. _Thank you for freeing my people. In life, I was their queen. My name is Rutela._

"No problem, your majesty." Rune smiled at her.

_Warrior of twilight and girl transformed into a dog, I need your help. My son, Prince Ralis, has disappeared. He ran away, and I need your help to find him. I sense he is in great danger, and I can no longer help him. If you do this, I will grant you the power to swim and breathe underwater like a zora._

"Of course we'll help your son. You really don't have to pay us for it, but thank you anyway." Rune bowed to the zora queen. I bowed too, as best as I could being a dog.

_Thank you, and good luck_. Queen Rutela disappeared. Rune and I walked back outside, and stood on the brink of a cliff. The waterfall was flowing down, and we could see where the river was flowing. "Well, shall we?" Rune gestured to the waterfall. I wagged my tail, and we both jumped. When we hit the water, it swept us down the river. The water kept pulling me under, and I couldn't tell where we were going. I struggled to keep my head above the water. After several minutes, I felt solid ground beneath my feet. I took a few steps, but collapsed and blacked out from exhaustion.

Link, Kris, Sierra, and Midna walked around the lakebed, bored. Midna sighed. "You guys can at least talk to each other, I have nobody to talk to!" She crossed her arms, than stopped walking. "Do you guys hear that?" A low rumbling sound was gradually growing louder. "I think that's the water!" A huge wave came rushing down the river. "Run!" Midna jumped on Link's back as all three animals charged toward higher ground. The water rushed into the lake, filling it almost instantly.

_Yay, there's finally water in the lake!_ Kris laughed and slipped into the water. Her snake body easily swam around the lake. Link and Sierra jumped in, and they swam around for a bit, laughing. They got out on the steps in front of the spirit's spring, shaking water off. Sierra noticed two figures falling down the small waterfall leading into the lake, and floating toward them. One of the figures stood up.

_Rune! _Sierra ran toward her.

"Hey, Sierra. Have you seen Lily? I lost her somewhere on the river." Sierra shook her head.

_Lily!_ Link called out as a small dog dragged herself out of the water. He ran over to her as she collapsed onto the stone steps.


	19. Chapter 18

****Chapter 18****

I woke up, slowly getting to my feet.

"Finally, you're awake! What is it with you and getting knocked out?" I looked up; Midna was standing over me, hands on her hips. I shook my head, trying to clear it.

"Sorry, that was kinda my fault," Rune said, sitting cross-legged on the stone steps. "I should have held on to you while we went down the river."

_That's okay_, I said, even though she couldn't hear me.

_Are you okay?_Link ran over when he saw I was awake. _You were out for a while, we were getting worried!_

_Aww, that's sweet! I'm okay, I just have a little bit of a headache._I winced. _Okay, maybe more than a little headache. I'll be fine though. I looked around. Is this the spirit's spring?_

_Yep! It's right in there!_Kris pointed her head toward the entrance.

_Well, you're okay now, so let's go free this land! _Sierra led the way into the spring.

The light spirit was no more than a collection of light particles floating above the water.

_Heroes... I am the last of the light spirits. Once you free this land, the twilight will be no more. _Rune and Midna both looked slightly disappointed. _Gather my stolen light...in this..._The strange vessel floated down toward Link, and Midna grabbed it. _Beware... The darkness...it is stronger than ever before. You must defeat it to save this world!_

_We will! _I reassured the light spirit. We went back outside to the stone in front of the spring. Midna pulled out a map.

"Alright, most of the bugs are up that river path Rune and Lily flew up, and in Zora's Domain. Some of us will have to fly back up there. There are a few here in the lake, and some in the fields and castle town."

"Okay, I'll go back up the river with someone, and we'll get the ones in Zora's Domain," Rune volunteered.

_Me and Sierra can get the ones in the fields and town!_Kris said, pointing on the map so Rune and Midna could understand.

"Link, would you like to come with me up the river?" Rune asked. He nodded.

"Great, now I'm stuck with you!" Midna crossed her arms and glared at me. I groaned.

_She's not that bad!_Link laughed at my expression.

_You're not the one she doesn't like!_I complained. _Oh, well. We'll get the ones here in the lake._

"Rune, I think I should teach you how to teleport," Midna floated over to her. "You're a being of the twilight, so you can use the portals to travel!"

"Oh, cool!" Rune grinned. "How do I do that?"

"Well..." Midna started explaining how portals worked.

_Shouldn't there be one here in the lake?_Kris wondered. While the Twili were talking, we walked around the lake area. On a platform of land, barriers fell around us.

_Uh-oh, those monsters are coming!_I yelled. I saw that the barrier had separated us; Sierra and Kris were trapped outside! Link and I tensed, as a portal appeared and dropped three twilight beasts. Link charged and killed one of the monsters.

_I'm sorry, Lily, but you have to help me. I can't kill both of them at once!_

_That's alright. I got it this time!_

_Okay! On three! One, two, three!_Steeling myself, I jumped onto the monster and bit it. I gagged as it fell to the ground. The other one fell too, and the barriers lifted. _Thanks,_Link said.

_You did great! _Kris came up and congratulated me. Rune and Midna walked over.

"Oh, great, now there's a portal here!" Rune noticed. "Did you guys have to fight some of those things?" I nodded and wagged my tail proudly.

"Well, I was thinking since Rune and Link have a way to teleport back here, I should go with Kris and Sierra so they don't have to walk all the way back here," Midna said. I breathed a sigh of relief. "On second thought, we shouldn't leave anyone alone, so how about Kris stays with Lily, and I can ride on Sierra's back."

"Good idea, Midna. Alright, I'll go call the bird and Link and I can head upstream. Good luck, everyone!" Rune waved, and she and Link left. Midna jumped on Sierra's back.

"Alright, wolfie, let's go!"

_Now I feel bad for Link,_Sierra groaned. _Well, good luck everyone! _Sierra ran of with Midna.

_Alright then! Lets start looking for those bugs!_I started sniffing around. Kris climbed on top of my head.

_Sorry, but snakes are cold-blooded, and it's not very warm here. Can I ride on you for a while?_

_Sure, no problem!_

_I wonder which elements we're going to get? You and I are the only ones left, and we could either get air or water. _Kris thought.

_I don't know. I'd be happy with either water or air. Oh, I found a bug! I chased after it, already bracing myself to kill the huge, disgusting insect._

"Alright, I still can't quite tell where the bugs are, so you're going to have to guide me to them somehow." Rune was flying the twilight bird through the tunnel, carrying Link in its talons. She knew there were three tears along the river, but only Link could see them. He barked in acknowledgement and sensed for the insects. He saw one ahead of them, and leaned his weight to guide the bird to it. "Is it in front of me?" Rune called. He barked and nodded, and Rune propelled the bird forward. They smashed into it, releasing the tear but getting the smashed bug all over them. "Bug guts. Wonderful!" Rune wiped guts off of her. "You got the tear?" Link nodded. "Okay, let's get the other two!" They flew farther up the tunnel, searching for the other insects.

Sierra swam to the other side of the river, with Midna on her back.

"What are you doing? There aren't any tears over here!" Sierra walked up to a stone with a hole in it. Wind was whistling through it, forming a tune. "Oh, right, those. Alright, go ahead and howl!" Midna got of Sierra's back and stood off to the side. Sierra closed her eyes, listening closely to the tune. She lifted her head and howled, copying the music. She fell to the ground, her mind in the strange, spirit-like realm where she howled with the other wolf. She greeted him happily.

_Hello! I've been wondering, who exactly are you?_

_Who I am is not important. What matters is who I was_, the golden wolf replied.

Who were you, then?

_You will find out, in time. Now, you must focus on becoming stronger. A great threat has arisen, and all of you must be at your best to defeat it. That is why I will teach you what others have forgotten_. He lifted his head, and howled the tune the stone had sung. Sierra howled along with him, their voices blending together to create a harmony._Let teachings of old pass to you. All who are worthy, take sword in hand and find me... _The wolf jumped off of the land mass, into the mists below.

"I'm glad that's over with. Any more insect gunk and I just might have puked." Rune and Link had made it through the tunnel and gotten the tears. Now, they were in Zora's Domain, searching for the last few bugs. "I think there's one up there." Rune pointed to a ledge high above them.

How are we going to get up there? Link wondered. He noticed a few smaller ledges, and pointed them out to Rune.

"Oh yeah! We can jump up those." Rune took a running leap and scrambled onto the first land platform. She jumped to the next one, and Link followed her. They eventually made it up to the place where the bug was. Link smacked against the wall and the bug took off, sparking. Rune saw it, and sliced it with her sword. "That was effective, but it looked like it hurt!" Link rubbed his nose with his paw, then shook his head. Rune patted him. "Are you alright?" He nodded. "Good." Rune smiled at him. "Well, that's all the tears here. Lets go back to the lake and wait for the others." Rune closed her eyes, focused, and raised her arms. Both Link and she dissolved into black squares, teleporting back to the lake.

Sierra walked through castle town, searching for the last bug. All the others had disappeared from the map, and the last one was in a back alley somewhere.

_Hey, this is right by Telma's bar,_Sierra thought as she walked into the small area. She found the bug hiding behind a box, and she snuck up on it. Sierra collected the last tear, but she noticed that there was one more slot in the vessel.

"Hey, what's going on?" Midna looked at the map. "There's one more tear! It's back at the lake; let's go get it!"

_I have a bad feeling about this,_Sierra thought as Midna teleported them both back to the lake.

Kris and I sat on the shore, waiting for the others to return. We had collected all the tears in the area, but now there was a strange commotion out in the middle of the lake. Neither of us wanted to investigate before the others got here. I could tell a storm was coming. Clouds were covering the sky and the wind had picked up. I shivered slightly. Where was everyone else?

_Look!_Kris yelled. A bunch of black squares came out of the portal in the sky, and Link and Rune materialized on the ground. They ran over to us.

_What's going on? _Link yelled over the wind, which had started to howl.

_I don't know!_I called back. T_here's something out there, and one tear is left. Whatever that thing is, it's not a normal bug!_Sierra and Midna appeared and ran over to us.

"What's with this storm?" Midna shouted.

"I don't know, but I think the last tear is out there!" Rune called back.

"Let's go get it then!" Midna floated over to Link and jumped on his back. By this point, he was used to her rough landings and didn't seek to notice.

_Let's end this! _Link plunged into the water and quickly swam toward the middle of the lake. Kris crawled on the top of Sierra's head, and she swam after Link. I sighed.

_I'm not looking forward to this._Rune and I both jumped in and followed the others. In the middle of the lake, there were several wooden platforms. We climbed out onto them. Everything was quiet, except for the distant thunder. Suddenly, something burst out of the water, screeching. I sensed, and jumped back in shock I saw what the thing was. It was a giant twilight insect, with a bloated abdomen and six jelly-like legs hanging off. A large pair of wings was keeping it up, and it was shooting off electricity.

_Ewwwww! _Sierra and Kris squealed simultaneously. I felt nauseous just looking at the thing.

"What is it? I can only barely see it..." Rune said, sounding nervous.

"Look for the sparks coming off of it. I think it's a larger form of the insects, but just make sure it doesn't shock you!" Midna warned. "Link, it's up to you guys to kill whatever that is!"

_That is disgusting! I have to bite that?!_Link looked as horrified as I felt.

_Look out!_I yelled as the bug flew, sparking, towards the platform Sierra and Kris were on. They jumped off into the water, and Link took the opportunity to grab onto the bug, and he repeatedly sunk his teeth into it. I grimaced as the abdomen shook. No way was I biting that thing! The bug shook him off, and he was flung into the water.

"Link, get out of the water! Quick!" Rune yelled at him. He swam to the platform she was standing on, and she helped him out of the water. The bug flew toward them again, sparking. Rune saw it, and quickly slashed with her katanas. It flew around spasmodically, screeching.

"It's dying!" Midna shouted happily. Sierra jumped onto it and bit it some more, Kris struggling not to fall off into the water. The bug, its energy spent, fell into the water.

_Why isn't it dead?_Kris wondered.

_Those leg things! We have to destroy them somehow! _I realized.

_I'm not biting that again! _Sierra groaned. Link took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"Wait, we have to damage its legs, right?" Rune stopped him. Link nodded. "I got this!" Rune grinned, and leaped onto the bugs belly. She swung her katanas around, slicing all the legs in a quick movement. The bug flew up, flinging her off. She fell onto one of the platforms as it thrashed in pain. It finally fell into the water and exploded, leaving a single, glistening tear.

_Are you okay? _Link nudged Rune with his nose. She sat up, wincing.

"I'm fine." She grinned. "We did it, guys! We got the last tear!" I nudged her. "What is it?" she asked, looking down at me.

"I think she wants you to do the honors." Midna smiled. "You did strike the finishing blow, after all. Go on, get the last tear!" Rune stepped into the water and swam over to the tear. She reached up and touched it, and her arm absorbed the tear. The vessel in Midna's hand started glowing, and a flash of light blinded me.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

When the light faded, I was standing in front of the spirit's spring. Standing next to me were my friends, all back to normal. I looked down at my human hands and smiled. The light spirit burst out of the water. It was a large snake, and it rose up in front of us.

_I am Lanayru_. Its voice was deep and loud. _Thank you all for restoring me. I know that you are searching for the dark power that rests in this land._

"Yes, do you know where it is?" Rune stepped forward excitedly.

_It lies in the zora temple at the bottom of the lake. But be warned... This power you seek is dangerous._

"What do you mean?" Kris asked.

_I am going to show you something. Remember it well..._ The light faded to black. I was floating in darkness, and a voice spoke.

_Long ago, the world was nothing. The three goddesses came and created a land, lush and green. _Three lights flew around me; one red, one blue, and one green. They flew in front of me, and they formed a small patch of land, with bright green grass, flowers, and tiny lights flying above it. I felt solid ground beneath my feet. _The land they created became known as the spirit realm. In it, the people were peaceful, bathed in the light of the golden Triforce. The Triforce was the great power the goddesses left behind when they left the world. It had the power to grant the wishes of anyone who touched it_. I started walking toward the land, and a golden shape appeared: three triangles forming a larger triangle, with a hole in the middle shaped like another triangle. In front of the land, I saw a figure standing. As I got closer, I saw that it was my friend, Kris. I waved and ran to her. She was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and, looking down, I saw that I was as well. It felt kind of strange, since we had always worn our traveling clothes up to this point. We both smiled and looked at the beautiful hill. _But, human hearts are greedy, and they wanted the power for their own. A great battle ensued. Brother turned against brother, friend against friend, all because they wanted to take the great power. _I saw Kris's eyes turn white, and she charged at me, holding a dagger. I suddenly lost control of my body. Whatever controlled me made me draw my sword. I screamed as Kris ran right toward the blade. I desperately tried to stop myself, but I could not. All I could do was watch in horror as the dagger fell to the ground, and Kris's body faded. I stuck the bloody sword in the ground and ran up the hill toward the sacred power. _A group of interlopers, who were skilled in magic, created a dark power, and tried to take the Triforce_. On top of the hill, a group of people stood. A giant fused shadow rose out of the ground behind them. As I got closer, I saw what, or rather, who the dark forms were. Me, Kris, Rune, Sierra, and Link were standing on the hill, but the figures didn't look exactly like us. Their clothes, skin, and hair were all black, and their eyes were glowing red. I made eye contact with the dark version of me, and recognized her from my dream. All five of them raised their hands toward me, and my heart clenched in fear. I put up my arms in a useless attempt to shield myself, but I felt my body dissolve. Dark me took on my form exactly, wearing a purple hat and tunic. Other than her white, pupil-less eyes, she looked exactly like me. _The goddesses sent us light spirits to seal away the interlopers. We took away the dark power, and sent them to a dark realm. _The fused shadow sunk into the ground, and the dark versions of us look around in panic. Dark me screamed, and suddenly the hill was empty. _Those who seek this power will soon be corrupted. Beware..._ I was standing in the spring again, all the fused shadows floating around my head. In front of me was darkness. I heard chilling laughter, and saw all my friends falling slowly, upside down. All their laughter blended together into one horrifying sound, and I felt a rushing sensation. The ground beneath me disappeared, and I fell into a black void. Suddenly, I stopped. I opened my eyes. I was standing back in the spring, surrounded by my friends. They were all back to normal, and seemed to have just woken up as well. They were staring off into space, looking as terrified as I felt. Link fell to his knees, and I ran over to him.

"Are you okay?"

"That...that was...horrible..."

"What was that?!" Kris said, panicked. "I saw you kill me, Lily, and there were those dark versions of us, and the laughing..." She was breathing heavily now. I walked over and hugged her.

"I didn't really kill you. You know I would never do that. I think it was a warning, to make sure we didn't abuse the dark power."

"Some warning," Rune huffed. "You could have just told us, jerk!" she shouted toward the water. "We knew they were dangerous, you could have just reminded us or something, but noooo, you had to go and show us _that_!" She picked up a rock and threw it at the water. Link stood up and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Rune, calm down. None of that stuff actually happened, it was just something to make sure we didn't forget."

"I'm sure never going to forget that," Sierra said, shaking slightly. "I think we all saw the person closest to us kill us or get killed by us. I saw you, Rune. I'm guessing you saw me too?"

"Um. Yeah. Yeah, I saw myself kill you. Gosh, I'm so sorry. You know I'd never do that!"

"Of course not! None of us would. I think it was just supposed to show what the war over the Triforce was like."

"So, I'm thinking it would be a bad idea to use the fused shadows," I pointed out. Everyone laughed slightly.

"C'mon, lets go see what this land looks like in the light!" Kris grabbed my hand and pulled me outside. The others laughed and followed. The lake sparkled in the sunlight. A fresh, cool breeze blew through our hair.

"Wow," I breathed.

"Let's go swimming!" Kris took off her gear and shoes, and jumped into the water. I laughed and started taking off my sword and boots. The others followed her example as well. I stripped off my outer belt and tunic, leaving on the white shirt underneath. Taking a running start, I jumped into the water and did a cannonball. I opened my eyes underwater. It didn't burn like it did to open my eyes in swimming pools back at home. The water was cool and clear, and I could see pretty well. Sunlight slanted through the water, and I saw a few zoras swimming around near the bottom of the lake. I swam up for air just as Rune jumped in right next to me. A small wave of water smacked me in the face. Rune came up, laughing.

"Sorry!" I laughed also, happy that we could finally take a short break now that the twilight was gone. Link and Sierra swam over to us. Rune burst out laughing again. Link had a piece of seaweed on his head! She reached over and pulled it off, and he laughed. We all swam around for a while, chasing and splashing each other. The sun was sinking by the time we got out, exhausted but still happy. I lay down on the shore, letting what little sun was left dry me off.

"Hey, what's that?" Sierra pointed out toward the middle of the lake. I squinted to see what she was pointing too. A small blue light was floating above the water.

"I bet it's the next element!" Kris said. "I can hear something, like a voice."

"Three guesses which one it is," Rune said sarcastically.

"Let's go see who it's for!" I jumped into the water, and Kris followed me. We both swam toward the light. We stopped and treaded water in front of the element. It floated toward Kris.

"I guess it's for you," I said. She looked excited.

_Bearer of the element water... Will you accept this power? Will you use it to bring joy and peace to the people of this land?_

"Yes!" Kris almost squealed in excitement. The ball of light floated straight into her chest. I shielded my eyes as the blue light engulfed her. When I opened them, she wasn't there.

"Kris?" I called, looking around. She popped out of the water right in front of me. I jumped back, and she giggled.

"How do I look?" Kris was a zora! Her skin had turned light blue, with darker blue scaly patches on her arms and cheeks. Two fins were sticking out of the sides of her head where her ears were. She still had short, curly purple hair, but her eyes had turned an indigo color. Her bike tank top and shorts had turned into a shiner material; I guessed it was waterproof.

"Wow, you look pretty as a zora!" I grinned, and she smiled cheerfully.

"I can breath underwater now!" She dived down. I held my breath and looked under the water. Kris swam faster than anyone I had seen, doing loops and spinning under the water in an intricate dance. She popped up in front of me again, grinning. "Did you see that? I can swim so fast now!" I laughed.

"That's amazing!"

"Here, grab onto my shoulders, I'll give you a ride back to shore." I did as she asked, and she took off. I had never moved so fast in the water before! I laughed as we reached the shore, and I climbed out. Kris dove under the water and swam quickly up, jumping out of the water and rolling as she landed on the shore. "Ta-da!" The other started in amazement.

"Wow, you look pretty!" Sierra said.

"Yeah, being a zora really suits you." Rune grinned. Link just smiled at her.

"I guess that means you get air, Lily!" Sierra smiled.

"Yeah! I hoped I would get air! I can't wait to see what I can do!" I bounced up and down in excitement. The others smiled.

"So...how do we get out of the lake?" Link asked. He seemed a bit anxious.

"Um, good question." Rune looked around. "Hey, how about we ask the circus freak?" She took off running toward a man dressed as... a clown. He was standing in front of a strange, colorful house that was floating on the lake.

"Hey, there. Do you know a way to get out of this valley, sir?" Rune asked, quick to get to the point.

"The only way I know is through this." The clown guy grinned and gestured to the house behind him.

"What is that?" Sierra asked, sounding a little skeptical.

"This, fellas, is a cannon. The peak of soaring sensation, the thrill of launching to the heavens! I normally charge ten rupees each, but I'll let you all go for free this first time!"

"Thank you! I call first!" Kris rushed forward.

"Whoa! Okay, you guys go two at a time. Who's going with you?" the clown asked. He seemed pretty friendly, but his clothes and makeup kinda freaked me out. I always thought clowns were creepy for some strange reason.

"I'll go with you." Sierra stepped forward.

"Okay! Just step right in!" He gestured to a hole in the side of the house. Sierra and Kris both took a deep breath, and they stepped into the cannon. The door slammed shut, and I jumped slightly. "I wouldn't want to be inside when that happens," I said under my breath. The clown guy started turning a crank. Music started playing, and the house turned around. A cannon came out of the top and aimed at a platform high above the lake. It fired with a loud boom, and Kris and Sierra shot out toward the platform. They screamed, but hit the platform safely.

"Alright, who's next? Don't be shy!" Okay, he was really starting to creep me out now.

"I'll go, I guess." Rune stepped forward. She looked nervous. "But I'm thinking I'd actually rather go with someone..."

"I'll go with you." Link smiled, and Rune blushed slightly. I tried not to giggle.

"Are you okay with going alone then, Lily?" Rune asked.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I'm okay with it."

They stepped into the cannon, and the music played again. The cannon fired, and they went flying toward the platform to join Sierra and Kris.

"Well... I guess I'm going alone." I nervously stepped into the house and the door slammed behind me, making me jump. I faintly heard the music playing, and felt the house turning. I saw a light above me, and realized that it was the mouth of the cannon. I felt pressure building up below me. Suddenly, I heard a loud boom, and I flew toward the light! I was rushing through the air, literally flying! I laughed aloud. This was amazing! I felt like I was born to fly! I quickly reached the platform and barely managed to land on my feet. I straightened up, laughing. "Let's do that again!"

"No!" everyone almost simultaneously said.

"We need to get going now, but we'll get another chance." Link smiled. "C'mon!"

"Where exactly are we going?" Rune asked.

"Hyrule castle town. Ilia is there, and I want to make sure she's okay."

"Oh. Alright, then." Rune said blankly. Link picked up a horseshoe-shaped blade of grass.

"What's that for?" Kris asked.

"Ilia taught me how to play a song on this grass. Epona really likes it, and she comes running when she hears it. I'm hoping your horses will follow her so we can ride to castle town." He blew a three note melody on the grass. It was a pretty tune. A few seconds later, I heard the thundering of hooves. Our little herd can running up to us, with Skippy in the lead.

"Skippy!" Kris ran forward and hugged her horse. Skippy neighed happily. Starlight walked toward me, and bowed her head briefly. I grinned and hugged her. Nightmare knocked his head against Rune.

"Hey!" she laughed, and shoved him back playfully. Nightmare's neigh sounded like laughter. Sierra quietly hugged Soulrunner and climbed on her back. Link was already on Epona.

"You guys ready?" I mounted Starlight.

"Ready!" Kris and Rune did the same, and we started riding together towards castle town.

We dismounted in front of the drawbridge leading to the town.

"Sorry, but I don't think they'll let you guys in." Link patted Epona. "We'll be back soon." We started walking into the town, when a flash of gold caught my eye. I stopped and turned toward a platform jutting out from the wall. The glow was coming from a golden wolf sitting on top. A voice echoed faintly in my head.

_Take sword in hand and find me..._ I turned back toward the others. Link was staring at the wolf as well.

"How did he get here?" he wondered aloud.

"You know that wolf?" Rune asked, turning to look at it.

"Yeah, he's taught me a few sword moves. I didn't think he would be here though."

"I know that wolf!" Sierra said. "I met him at the howling stones."

"Oh yeah, he told me to find those," Link remembered.

"He said something like, 'those who are worthy, take sword in hand and find me'."

"Well, neither of us have a sword," Kris commented to Sierra.

"I heard him say that just now," I said. "I think he wants me to go and train with Link."

"I'd be happy to train with you." Link smiled. "Rune?"

"You go ahead. I think I can figure out swordsmanship on my own. I've got a different fighting style than you guys, anyway." Rune grinned.

"Okay!" I excitedly ran toward the wolf. There were some vines growing on the side of the platform; I used them the climb up. When I got to the top, I hesitated to let Link catch up. Together, we approached the wolf. Link drew his sword, motioning for me to do the same. The wolf growled and launched itself toward us. I raised my sword to block him, but the impact never came. When I opened my eyes, I was standing in a misty field. I could see the castle faintly in front of me. Link was next to me, and the wolf was sitting in front of both of us. He lifted his head and howled, transforming into a skeletal warrior. Relaxing, I recognized him as the Hero's Shade.

"Welcome, young warriors. Link, I see that you have brought a companion." The ancient warrior's voice was strong, and it echoed around the misty realm.

"This is my friend, Lily. She and a few others are helping me stop Zant. The light spirits said they were part of an old legend about the four elements."

"That legend was after my time; I know nothing of it. Why are the others not here?"

"None of them felt they had a reason to train in the ways of the sword." Link seemed to have a great amount of respect for the shade, bowing his head as he spoke. The shade turned to me.

"You think you are worthy to learn the techniques I have shown only to the destined hero? The skills that I spent years perfecting and only I have ever mastered them all?" His voice was very firm, and somewhat intimidating.

"With all due respect, I do not know." I bowed my head. "I only just started training, and I'm not very good yet. But I am willing to learn, and I promise I will work hard to master them. Sir," I added, since he most likely was a soldier at some point in his life.

"Very well. I shall see if you can perform the first technique I taught Link, the finishing blow!" He drew his sword. "Now then, come at me!"

_Wait, what?_ I thought.

"Surely you are familiar with it? If you fight with him, you should have seen him perform it many times."

"I-I have seen it." Suddenly, I was nervous. "I'll try." I drew my sword and slashed it at the shade. He easily blocked it, and shoved his hilt forward. I fell flat on my back, my head spinning from the unexpected attack.

"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage." The shade sounded stern. "I have said that to Link when he first started his training, and you would do well to remember it." Link was standing off to the side, looking worried but not wanting to interfere with my training. If I was going to learn, he would not be able to help me. I slowly got up, my back aching, and brandished my sword again. "Your determination is admirable, but it will not be enough. Come at me again!" I swung my sword, harder this time. He blocked, but I shifted my weight so he couldn't shove me over. I slashed again, and his sword dropped for a second. It was enough for me to slash one more time, and he fell in his back. I jumped into the air, and shoved my blade into him, my weight adding more force to the blow. I jumped back off, taking my sword with me. After a few seconds, he got up. "Impressive. It seems you are capable of performing my lost art. Link, come forward." Link stepped next to me, looked over, and grinned at me.

"Nice job," he whispered.

"Thanks." We both looked back to the shade.

"I see you prefer to fight without a shield, so I will teach you both the next technique, the back slice! Let it be hewn into your mind!" The shade held up his sword, and Link crossed his blade with his. I followed his example, our blades creating a resounding clang. "First, you must stun your opponent. The best way to do this is using a shield bash, but hitting with a blade the right way will also leave them vulnerable. Once they are stunned, roll around their back and jump up at exactly the right time to perform a slash." The shade demonstrated on Link, stopping just before his blade made contact. "Link, you first. Come at me!" Link and the shade circled each other for a while, two of the best warriors from their times engaged in battle. My heart raced in anticipation. Suddenly, the shade darted forward with a downward slash. Link deflected it with his shield, leaving the shade open to attack. He quickly rolled around to his back and jumped up, slashing the shade and knocking him forward. Link quickly finished him by thrusting his sword into the shade's back. The ancient warrior got up. "Excellent. You are certainly capable of performing my lost art. Now then, Lily, come at me!" He brandished his sword. I stepped forward, unhesitant this time. Link had made it look so easy; I could surely do it. I slashed the warrior, and quickly tried to roll around him. However, I only tripped and landed on my back. The warrior's sword point appeared in front of me, stopping me from getting up. "You must learn to be more agile. Try again." He let me up, and I raised my sword. I tried again, this time managing to roll around him, but forgetting to jump up and slash. "Are you not listening? You must jump up from your roll and slash your opponent! Again!" I failed two more times, but on the third try, I managed to slash his unprotected back. He fell forward, and I performed the finishing blow. He got up easily, as usual. "Excellent. Make sure you time your jump exactly right." Link stepped alongside me in front of the warrior again. "There are four more hidden skills for you to find. Do not neglect your training before I see you again. Good luck to all of you." He bowed; me and Link bowed back. His image faded into whiteness as we left the strange realm.

**AN:**

Hello again! ^w^ still no change on favorite character votes. Not much else to say, so enjoy the chapter!


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

"Yay! You're back!" Kris ran up and hugged me. "We kinda freaked out when you fell over like that, but Sierra told us you were just going to some other realm."

"How'd the training go?" Rune walked over and asked.

"Great! Lily did really well!" Link smiled.

"I wasn't as good as you." I blushed. "I messed up a lot."

"Well, it was your first time. I messed up my first time too."

"Show us what you learned!" Sierra said.

"Well, I don't know if I can do it without hitting you..." I started, but then I heard a bokoblin screech behind me. I quickly spun around and blocked its club. _Well, now's as good at time as any, _I thought. I smacked the bokoblin with the hilt of my sword, and it became dazed. I quickly rolled around it, and jumped up, slicing it so hard it fell forward. I quickly ran toward it, but I had hit it hard enough before, and it disintegrated before I could jump into the air. I turned around and grinned.

"That was great timing!" I laughed. The others applauded, and I blushed.

"That was cool!" Kris smiled.

"Thank you. Let's go, I've been waiting to see the town ever since we got here!" I sheathed my sword and ran forward. We all ran into the town, excited to see it in real life.

Across the drawbridge, there was a huge set of doors. We pushed them open together and stepped into the town. The first thing we noticed was the noise. It was loud and busy, with men discussing business, women gossiping, and children laughing and playing. A pen with a few goats was on the right of the street, and they added to the noise. Most people probably found it unpleasant, but I liked the noise. It showed that this place was alive, filled with happy people. This was a place that Zant's reign of terror had not reached, and people were just living out their lives. I immediately wanted to explore the town.

"Wow! Everyone looks so happy!" Kris seemed to have noticed the same thing I had.

"C'mon, let's go see the rest of the town!" I ran to the center, excited. The others followed me, laughing. The town square was even busier than the street we had come from. Several shops surrounded the street, and a beautiful fountain sat in the center.

"Wow! Look at the fountain!" Kris laughed and jumped into the water. I guessed she felt like it since she was a zora now. I started to take off my shoes to join her, but Sierra stopped me, pointing to a soldier coming toward us.

"Ma'am," he said to Kris. "The fountain is only for viewing, not for bathing." His voice sounded stern and hollow, echoing in the helmet he wore. I struggled not to laugh.

"Oh, sorry!" Kris climbed out, with a strained look on her face as if she was also fighting back laughter. The soldier nodded and walked off. The second Kris and I made eye contact, we broke down laughing. Rune and Sierra also laughed, though not as hard as we did. Link looked confused, but he smiled at our joy.

"This is just like back home! Remember when we went in the fountain at the square back home?" I said, gasping from laughing so hard.

"Yes! That was hilarious!" Kris laughed.

"I don't remember that," Rune said.

"It was a long time ago, before we met you guys." I stopped laughing, but still grinned. "Well, what should we do first? That won't involve breaking some rule, that is." Link had been looking down one of the streets.

"It looks like the south road has a bunch of stalls selling things."

"We are pretty low on food." Sierra looked through her pack. "We should go get some more!"

"Alright, let's see what they've got," Rune said. We walked together down the south street, looking at the different stalls.

"There's some meat over there! C'mon Rune!" Sierra walked over to the stall selling all types of meats.

"Oh, apples!" I pointed to one of the stalls. "Can we get some, Link? Pleeease?!" I grabbed his arm, making him laugh.

"Wow, you look like a dog when you do that! I can see why you become one in the twilight. Okay, you can go buy some apples." Link handed us a few rupees.

"Yay!" Kris and I both cheered and ran over to the stall. We spent several minutes picking out the perfect apples, irritating the shop keeper. Sierra and Rune walked back as we paid for the apples. I handed one to everyone, and took a big bite out of mine. It was sweet and juicy, much better than the ones in our world. We walked back to the square and sat on the edge of the fountain, enjoying our apples. The sun was just starting to go down when we finished.

"Let's go see Ilia now." Sierra stood up and stretched.

"Yeah! I bet she's nice!" Kris said happily. We started toward Telma's bar off the south street. Link was smiling slightly as we reached the door. He put his hand on the knob and opened the door, quickly walking inside. The rest of us quietly followed him.

"Hmph! That is a zora! I cannot help him!" A short, stooped over man walked briskly toward the door. He bumped into Link and glared at him.

"But, doctor! If we don't help this boy he will..." The door slammed. A girl about our age had run after the doctor as he left. She was short, with dirty blonde hair and bright green eyes. Her hair was cut very short, except for a section in the back that curled up to the side. She had on a sleeveless white shirt and tan pants that reached to her mid-calf. I recognized her as Ilia, Link's friend. He stepped toward her, his face hopeful and excited, but she simply turned away, not even acknowledging him. Link's face fell.

"Well, it looks like a human doctor won't do." Telma sighed. Ilia sat down by the zora boy and put her face in her hands. Telma put a hand on her shoulders.

"Telma, what do we do?" Ilia seemed on the verge of tears. Link looked crushed as his friend ignored him.

"Ma'am," Sierra stepped forward. "I know a man in Kakariko village that can probably help." Telma's face brightened.

"Of course! I know Renado! He sometimes helps gorons and zoras. Honey, he can help the boy!"

"He can?!" Ilia immediately brightened up.

"Yes!" Telma smiled at the girl.

"Hem, hem. Simply inadvisable." The sound of a voice being cleared came from the front of the bar. I looked and saw a small group of soldiers standing next to the bar. "But we can't turn down a pretty girl in need! Am I right boys?" The soldiers all cheered in agreement. I felt a twinge of annoyance. Who did those guys think they were, taking advantage of Ilia like that!

"Oh, that's great! The two plains we must cross to get to Kakariko are filled with dangerous monsters!" The soldiers stopped cheering a Telma's words. "But now we're sure to be safe!" The soldiers quickly ran out of the bar. Rune laughed outright. "If that's what the military's like, it's no wonder everything's gone down the drain!"

Unable to contain my rage, I stepped outside after them. "You call yourselves soldiers?! You're pathetic, every one of you!" I yelled after them. "You better not let me see you again, or I'll show you what a real warrior can do!" I stood right outside the open door, fuming as the soldiers ran away even faster. Rune, fighting back more laughter, grabbed my hand and pulled me back inside.

"That was impressive!" Telma chucked. "What's your name, honey?"

"Lily." I smiled. Ilia walked up to me, shyly looking at the ground.

"Are you really a warrior, like you said?" Her voice was quiet, but sounded sweet.

"Yes. We all are." I gestured to my friends.

"We can escort you to Kakariko! We've been there ourselves, and we have lots of experience fighting monsters!" Kris said brightly.

"Thank you so much!" Ilia smiled gratefully at us.

"Alright! Go pack your things, honey. We'll leave right away!" Ilia nodded, and started walking toward the back room.

"We can help you!" Sierra and Kris followed her, and they went to Ilia's room, talking happily. As they left, Telma looked at Link.

"You haven't said much."

"Well, I..." Link still looked upset.

"You know that girl, don't you?" Telma said knowingly. Link silently nodded.

"Poor girl, she can't even remember her own name now. When she found this boy, she did all in her power to help him. That girl has more courage than all the soldiers in Hyrule, that's for sure!" Telma smiled, shaking her head. "I'll get the carriage ready. You make sure you're prepared." Me, Link, and Rune nodded as Telma left. I turned to Link.

"I'm sorry you're friend can't remember you." I put a hand comfortingly on his shoulder as he hung his head. "At least we can still help her! I'm sure we can find a way to get her memories back!" Link looked up and smiled.

"You're right. Thank you."

"Heh, that was hilarious, when you yelled at all those soldiers!" Rune laughed.

"I meant every word of it!" I laughed slightly. "If those cowards are the protectors of Hyrule, no wonder Zant was able to take over so easily!"

"Exactly what I was sayin'!"

"Speaking of Zant, there's something interesting about that boy." Link had started to focus on the mission again. "What is a zora doing all the way out here?"

"You know, I think that might be the zora queen's son," Rune realized. "She did say he ran away, and she sensed he was in danger."

"Yeah!" I agreed. "If we can save him, she said she would give something that will let us breath underwater!"

"Kris sure won't need it!" Rune laughed. I smiled. Sierra, Kris, and Ilia came back.

"We put her stuff in the carriage," Sierra said. "Telma sent us to tell you she's ready to go!"

"How are we going to move the zora boy?" Ilia asked, worried. Link walked over to the bench the boy was laying on. He gently picked up the unconscious boy. Ilia smiled gratefully at him, and Link smiled back, hopeful.

Telma's carriage was outside castle town's gates.

"There you are! There's a few blankets in the back of the carriage for the boy to rest on. Honey, you can ride back there and keep him comfortable."

"Okay!" Ilia happily climbed in the back of the carriage. Link carefully placed the zora boy onto the blankets.

"Thank you so much for this!" Ilia said, smiling at Link. He smiled back, although his eyes were downcast. The horses were standing a few feet away from the carriage. The others were tightening their saddles and preparing. Sierra handed Kris a flask of water.

"Here! You can keep this to use against the monsters. I thought it might be more effective for longer distances than a scythe!"

"Thanks!" Kris grinned and strapped the water flask to her waist. Rune was already on Nightmare, a bow in her hand and a quiver of arrows strapped on her back.

"Hey Lily, look what I figured out how to do." Rune held an arrow to the bowstring and pulled it back. With her left pointer finger, she created a small flame, and held it to the arrow. The head caught fire, and she shot the fire arrow into the wall, where the flame was extinguished. "Cool, huh?"

"That is cool! That should be useful!" I was impressed. Everyone had already figured out how to use their powers in unique ways, but I still didn't even have mine. I supposed I would have to be patient. Starlight snorted in greeting when she saw me. I smiled and patted her mane. After checking to make sure the saddle was secure, I mounted her. Telma snapped the reins, and her black horse started pulling the carriage toward the west bridge. Link and I rode on either side of the carriage, with Sierra and Kris behind it and Rune leading the way. There were windows on either side of the carriage, so I could see both Link and Ilia as I rode.

"I want to thank all of you for helping." Ilia smiled at me and Link. "You don't even know me, yet you are risking your life to help us. If you don't mind me asking, what are your names?"

"I'm Link."

"My name is Lily. The girls who helped you are Sierra and Kris, Kris is the zora, and the girl riding in front is Rune." Ilia smiled gratefully.

"You should save your thanks for when we are safely in Kakariko." Telma looked back as she drove.

"Hey, the bridge is right up ahead!" Rune called to us. "Looks like there's trouble, though."

"What is it?" I asked, beginning to feel apprehensive.

"Remember that guy Link fought on the east bridge? He survived. I have no idea how he did it, but he did." Sure enough, I saw King Bulbin patrolling the bridge on his massive boar.

"Oh, no," Link groaned.

"Don't worry, I got this." Rune grinned. "See his shields? He's learned; he's protecting his sides now. You would have to hit him from the front, and the best way to do that would be with a bow."

"Okay, I can do that." Link drew his bow.

"Let's be honest, Link. I'm a lot better than you with a bow. Especially while moving." Rune pulled Nightmare in front of Epona, cutting them off.

"But... Okay." Link must have finally learned that he can't argue with Rune. She grinned, and rode onto the bridge, an arrow already fitted to her bow.

"Hey, ugly! Over here!" Rune taunted the huge Bulbin. He roared, and his boar charged toward her. Link nervously clenched his fists.

"Now I know why she didn't want me to go," I barely heard him say. "Waiting like this is awful." I moved Starlight next to Epona.

"Don't worry. Rune's great at this! In fact, I'm less worried about her than I would be if you were doing it. No offense," I quickly added, not wanting to insult his skills.

"None taken." Link turned back toward the fight. Nightmare had charged to meet the boar. Rune calmly drew back the arrow, and let it fly toward the bulbin just as he reached them. Nightmare swerved to the side, avoiding the boar's sharp tusks. He snorted, and quickly turned around, ready to charge at the boar again. Rune didn't even seem to be controlling him. I had to admire the black stallion; he clearly knew how a battle works. Rune calmly shot the bulbin again, and he roared in pain. He lost control of his boar, and it crashed into the side of the bridge. Both the boar and its rider fell over the bridge into the blackness below.

"Great job, honey!" Telma drove the carriage next to Rune.

"Thanks." Rune grinned. Link breathed a sigh of relief, and rode up to her.

"Nice job! I'm glad you're okay." He smiled.

"Well, you know, it wasn't that hard.." Rune smiled. "Shall we continue?" I looked around at all the others, determined to do whatever it took to protect the carriage.

"You guys ready?" I asked, my heart starting to race in anticipation of the upcoming battle.

"Yeah!"

"Let's do this!" I smiled at their enthusiasm. We would make it, no doubt about it. Nothing could defeat us if we worked together.

"Alright, let's go!"

**AN:**

Yaaaay Castle town! That's my favorite area in the game if you couldn't tell w anyway, gonna be lots more cool action in the next chapter so get ready! Here's the results of fav characters so far: Lily-1 Rune-2 Link-1 (im counting him as a character since his personality in the game can be loosely interpreted, so Link in the story is my own unique version of the character from the game ^^) anyway, enjoy and keep posting reviews!


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The carriage drove through a path surrounded by cliffs. A few minutes into it, we ran into trouble. Here we go...I thought. Several bulbins were standing in hollows in the cliff side, firing arrows at us. Link and Rune quickly took out their bows and started shooting them down. Right before we made it out of their firing range, an arrow hit the carriage. I exhaled in relief as it didn't go through and hit those inside, but then I remembered that the bulbins had fire arrows! I quickly rode up to Link, as the canvas caught fire. He jerked around as we heard Ilia scream from inside.

"The carriage is on fire!" I warned him. He stopped until the carriage caught up to him then rode beside it, frantically calling out to Ilia. I tried to think of a way to put out the fire.

"Kris, do you have enough water to stop the fire? I called.

"I don't know! I'll try!" She uncorked the flask at her waist.

"Don't worry, I got this!" Rune rode back toward us. Focusing, she raised her arms toward the fire. Instantly, the flames slowed down. She slowly lowered her arms, biting her lip in concentration. The fire grew smaller, than disappeared altogether.

"Good thinking, Rune!" I grinned at her.

"Thank you!" I heard Ilia call out from inside the carriage. I chuckled to myself. We reached the open field, just as the bright moon was rising in the sky. I allowed myself a moment to relax and breath in the cool night air. Suddenly, I heard a familiar screech behind me. A horde of bulbin riders came thundering up behind us on their boars, with several archers already taking aim.

"Great," I said under my breath. I drew my sword and held Starlight's reigns with one hand. She seemed to know where to go with little guidance from me, and she rode right up to one of the boars. I slashed the archer off first, and ducked as the other's club swung toward my head. The others joined me, knocking the bulbins off their boars.

"Rune!" Link called as he blocked a swing from a bulbin's club, "Stay close to the carriage and stop it if it catches fire!" Link pushed the bulbin off with his hilt.

"Got it!" Rune sped up until she was near the carriage and drew her bow, picking off some of the archers from afar. Just as the horde started thinning out, a felt a rush of wind from above. Looking up, I saw a large bird that was holding a bomb for some reason. Confused, I tried to slash it, but it flew high out of my reach. It swooped down in front of the carriage, and dropped the bomb on the path, directly in front of the black horse.

"Telma, look out!" I yelled, but it was too late. The bomb hit the ground in front of the horse and exploded. The horse panicked, and veered off to the right. I saw Telma frantically pulling on the reins, trying to steer it back on course.

"Link!" I called. "We need to take care of those birds!" He nodded, letting me know he heard me, but he was busy trying to avoid one of the arrows. After taking out the archer trying to hit him, he reached into his bag.

"Use this!" he called, and threw something at me. A rush of wind spiraled toward me, and i reached out to catch it. The Gale boomerang flew into my hand, sending wind out in a spiral around me. As I held it, I felt a strong power in the boomerang. Harness the power of the winds, I thought. I seemed to remember that phrase from somewhere, possibly the game description. I focused on a bird flying overhead, and threw the boomerang. Wind spiraled around it as it rushed toward the bomb the bird was carrying. The wind blew the bomb out of the bird's talons, and it stayed in the whirlwind around the boomerang. As the bomb flew back toward me along with the wind, I started to panic. Luckily, the bomb exploded before it could hit me. As the carriage was steered back on course, we all protected it in our own way. Kris was slashing bulbins left and right with her scythe, Sierra was alternately using a short sword and her earth powers to knock them off or trip the boars, and Link was right in the middle of the horde, his sword everywhere at once. Rune was firing arrows into the horde, while blocking any that came her way, and occasionally putting out small fires. I rode a little away from the horde, stopping bombs with the boomerang and slashing at any birds that flew too low. We made it across the first plain without too much difficulty, and we were halfway across the second field before anything bad happened. I had just taken out another bird before I heard a short yell from Link. I looked over and saw an arrow hit his right shoulder. He grunted in pain, but continued slashing at the bulbins.

"Link! Are you okay?" Rune called out to him, worry in her voice.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm left-handed!" he reassured her, but his voice sounded pained. He looked over toward me and his eyes grew wide. "Lily, look out!" Without thinking, I ducked low, and felt talons graze my hair. A crazy idea popped into my head, and I grabbed the bird's legs as it started ascending. I was pulled out of the saddle as it lifted me high into the air. Quickly, I climbed onto the bird's back. It tried to shake me off, but I held on. A small bag of bombs was strapped to the back of its neck. So that's how they've been dropping the bombs on us, I realized. Grabbing one, I dropped it onto one of the boars. It hit the fire on the tip of the archer's arrow and detonated. The explosion sent all the bulbins near it flying.

"Guys, out of the way!" I called to the others. I dropped another bomb in the middle of the horde, killing all but a few bulbins. The other were quickly dispatched by my friends. I saw Starlight riding beneath me, and I jumped off the bird. It flew away as I landed in the saddle. "Thanks, Starlight!" I whispered to her. We reached the gate of Kakariko, and the carriage slowed down and stopped.

"How do we get in?" Sierra asked. Rune held up a key.

"Where did you get that?" Kris asked.

"The giant bulbin had it. It flew up as he fell, and I caught it." She unlocked the gate, and we all rode into the village. Renado came out of the sanctuary.

"Renado! There's a zora boy in the carriage who needs help, fast!" Sierra dismounted and ran up to him. Ilia came out of the back of the carriage.

"Please, sir, can you help?" Renado walked to the back of the carriage and gently lifted the boy.

"I can, but he looks very weak. I must attend to him right away." Ilia followed him inside. I turned to Link. He was clutching his shoulder, breathing heavily.

"We need to heal your shoulder!" He silently nodded, looking like he might pass out. Rune dismounted and jogged over to him. She grabbed his hand as he slid off of Epona. As his feet landed, his knees buckled. Rune caught him before he hit the ground, and I ran over to help her hold him up. Link's eyes were barely open, and he seemed to have lost a lot of blood. Supporting him between us, Rune and I walked toward the inn. We lay him down on one of the beds, while Kris ran around and lit some candles so we could see.

"What should we do?" Rune looked worried.

"We should see how bad the wound is, and definitely get the arrow out!" Sierra said confidently.

"I think you should be in charge, Sierra. You're probably the best out of us at healing stuff," I pointed out.

"Oh. I don't know where you got that idea from, but okay. Um, we shouldn't try taking the arrow out with his tunic and that chain mail stuff in the way. Rune, can you take them off? Kris, you..."

"Hold on, what?" Rune was blushing furiously.

"Sorry, but I can't really see what the wound is like with his shirt on." Sierra apologized. Rune sighed, and, still blushing, she pulled off Link's bloodstained tunic and undershirt.

"The chain mail seems fine, just a bit scratched up," I pointed out.

"It saved him from a much deeper wound, that's for sure. Alright, Kris, can you wash those? I'm going to try pulling out the arrow now." Sierra seemed so confident; I would be terrified to pull an arrow out of someone. "Link, can you hear me?" Sierra gently put her hand on his forehead. His eyes opened slightly and he nodded. "I'm going to pull out the arrow that hit you. It's probably going to hurt a lot, and I'm sorry if it does, but I need to get it out or it could cause an infection." Link nodded slightly, looking a bit too tired to fully process her words. Rune knelt next to the bed, her hands resting on top of it, while I sat on Kris's bed behind her, feeling useless. Sierra grasped the arrow, took a deep breath, and quickly pulled it out. Link's eyes shot open, and he grabbed onto the closest solid thing he could find: Rune's hand. She blushed slightly, then winced as he squeezed it, hard. His jaw was clenched as he tried not to cry out in pain. "I'm sorry!" Sierra cringed. "At least it's over now." Setting the arrow on the table, she pulled a red potion out of her bag. She held it to Link's lips and he gulped it down, grimacing at the taste but knowing that it would help him. The wound on his shoulder slowly closed. Breathing heavily, Link lay his head back on the pillow. He was still holding Rune's hand. Kris came back holding Link's tunic and shirt. She giggled slightly at Rune and Link, but neither of them noticed.

"Here!" She handed the clothes to Sierra.

"Thanks. I'm going to mend these; they got torn by the arrow." Sierra sat down on her bed, pulled a needle and thread out of her bag, and started sewing up his tunic. Kris put her weapons on her bed.

"I'm going to check on the zora boy." She walked out the door. I thought about going to bed, but I realized that the random bed we put Link on was my bed! Smiling, I decided to go with Kris. I told the others where I was going then got up. As I walked out the door, I looked back at Link. He had fallen asleep, and Rune was still kneeling next to the bed. She gently brushed the hair off of his face. I smiled. They were still holding hands.

**AN:**

yaaaaay romance! 3 No change in voting, im counting by people not actual votes so you don't have to say it more than once. Still review though I like hearing what you all think! ^^

**AN2:**

Lol sorry about all the typos, my friend changed them on google drive to mess with me. Here are the normal names again ^^


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

The night air was cool as I slowly walked around the village. I wasn't entirely sure where the zora boy was, but I decided that someone would come out of the building eventually. Sure enough, I saw the door to the general store open, and three people walked out. Telma and Renado were talking quietly, and Colin was leaning on the rail, looking a bit worried. I walked up and greeted him.

"Hello, Colin. It's nice to see you again!"

"Hello. Where's Link?" Colin asked.

"He's resting. He, um, was hurt on our way here. Don't worry, he'll be fine!"

"That's good!" The little boy smiled, but then his expression turned serious. "Is it true that Ilia has lost her memory?"

"Yes, Colin." Renado stood behind him. "She has, and regaining it will be no easy task." Colin nodded, looking downcast.

"How is the zora boy?" I asked Renado.

"He is through the worst of it." I smiled in relief. "He is calling for his mother. Her welfare consumes him. Do you know anything about her?" I remembered the zora queen, Rutela. Her son, Prince Ralis, would be very upset when he found that she had died. I looked down at my feet. "I can see the memory pains you. We must tell him when the time comes." I nodded sadly. "I must ask you something, who is the zora girl who was with you? Is she his sister?"

"No, she just met him today. She is Kris, the girl who was with us."

"Kris? I thought she was a human?"

"She was."

"I do not understand. But, strange things do seem to happen around you five. She is inside now, helping care for the boy. She and Ilia seem to have become good friends quickly."

"Heh, I'm not surprised!" I smiled.

"Is there anything I can do to help? I want to help Ilia get her memory back!" Colin looked up at Renado.

"The best way to help would be to stay here, where you are safe. It is time for us the show the courage you have already displayed." Colin smiled, and went back inside. Renado smiled at his enthusiasm, and walked back toward the sanctuary.

"Nice to see good come of your actions, huh?" I looked over at Telma, leaning on the porch rail. "I was impressed by all of you. The way you jumped on that bird was very brave."

"I wasn't really thinking about it," I smiled shyly.

"That was what made it so impressive." Telma grinned. "How is that nice young boy, Link was him name?" I nodded. "I heard him cry out, was he hurt?"

"He was, but he is healed now. Sierra knows how to pull arrows out, apparently."

"You are all very talented. Those skills of yours, ever thought of putting them to use for Hyrule?" I looked at her, curious. "There is a secret group dedicated to fighting against the evil in Hyrule." She smiled mysteriously. "And I'm a member of that group." Something in her words seemed to give me hope. I felt it grow inside me as I realized that we weren't the only ones brave enough to oppose the forces of evil. There were people with the courage to stand up and fight. I smiled at Telma. Maybe there was hope for the people of Hyrule. She stepped closer, putting her face in front of mine. "I want to see you all in my bar again, you hear?" I stepped back, a little weirded out, and nodded silently. Telma smiled. "I think I'm going to stay here for a while. I want to make sure Ilia is doing okay, and...well, never mind about the rest." I followed her gaze, and saw that she was looking at Renado. I tried not to laugh. Telma patted my shoulder and walked toward him. They started talking, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I didn't mind though, the night was peaceful and quiet. I turned to go inside and check on Prince Ralis, but I felt a presence behind me. I turned back, and I saw the ghostly form of Queen Rutela. She smiled, and gestured for me to follow her. I stepped off the porch, and she started floating away. I didn't know where she was leading me, but I followed her into the night.

Link's mind felt hazy. He faintly remembered falling off of Epona after they arrived at the village. Someone had caught him as he blacked out. Shortly after, he awoke again, this time in a bed. He saw someone standing over him, but his vision was blurry and he couldn't make out who it was. Sierra's voice said something about an arrow, and he just nodded, trying to ignore the dull pain in his right shoulder. Suddenly, the pain sharpened. Link tried not to yell, but his shoulder was burning. He clutched at the sheets, trying to find something to grab onto to help him not cry out. His left hand brushed against something solid and he grabbed it. It was someone's hand; he didn't care who's, he just wanted the pain to stop. After a few seconds that felt like hours, someone pressed something to his lips. He quickly drank what was in it. The bitter taste of a red potion filled his mouth, but he only drank faster, knowing that it would stop the pain. Sure enough, his shoulder stopped throbbing. His head fell back on a pillow, and he had blacked out again. He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep, but he still felt tired. Someone had put a blanket over him, so at least he wasn't cold. His left hand rested on something fuzzy. Link opened his eyes. He was in their room at the inn, in one of the beds. His tunic was on the stand next to his bed, and Sierra was in a chair next to it, asleep. He looked to his left. His hand was on top of someone's head. They had fallen asleep on the floor, their head resting on the bed next to him. The black hair spread on the sheets told him that it was Rune. He smiled. It must have been her hand he had grabbed earlier. Link brushed the hair out of her face. He thought he saw her smile slightly in her sleep. "Rune..." he whispered, his voice a little hoarse. Rune opened her eyes and quickly sat up.

"Link! You're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Better. That potion really helped."

"You remember what happened?" Rune's face turned slightly purplish.

"A little. Sorry if I squeezed your hand too hard."

"It's fine." Rune looked at the floor, still blushing.

"Where are the others?" Link changed the subject.

"They went to see the zora boy. Kris actually came back a while ago." Rune pointed to one of the beds. Link hadn't noticed the tuft of purple hair sticking out from under the blankets. "She said he's doing fine. He's healing well, although he's worried about his mother."

"That's great!" Link smiled.

"Lily followed her, but I guess she hasn't come back yet. I wonder where she is?" Rune shrugged. "I'm sure she's fine; she wouldn't leave the village on her own."

"Yeah." Link pulled off the covers and stood up. The world seemed to spin, and he almost fell back, but Rune caught him. "Thanks." Link stood up straight and walked over to the table. He put on his white shirt, now mended and clean of blood. "I want to see how Ilia and the prince are doing."

"Okay. We should let Sierra and Kris sleep, though. They look pretty exhausted."

"Yeah." Link quietly laughed. Together, they walked outside the inn.

Rutela led me through a path at the back of the village. It led to the small graveyard, with a few crows flying around, and occasionally dive-bombing me. I beat them off with my sword and continued to follow Rutela. The air seemed to grow colder as we progressed. At the back, there was a stone with a strange symbol on it: three circles with curves on the inside, forming a somewhat triangular shape. Rutela floated right through the stone. I was confused as to how to follow her, but the symbol on the stone started glowing. It quickly brightened, and the stone disappeared, revealing a small tunnel that was large enough for me to crawl through. On the other side, there was a deep pool of water. Moonlight slanted through a few small trees above, giving the place a mystical feel. A small platform was on the other side of the pool; I had to swim across to reach it. The water was much warmer than I expected. I hauled myself out of the pool, dripping slightly. Rutela hovered above a large stone engraved with the same symbol as the one outside. I remembered it now; it was the symbol of the zoras.

_This is the tomb of my late husband, King Zora,_ Rutela said in a soft, musical voice. _Members of the royal family are often buried in Kakariko village, for we have strong ties to it. Before he died, my husband created a suit of armor out of zora scales. They allow the wearer to move and breathe underwater like a zora. He left it here for the hero he knew would need it to protect Hyrule. _The tombstone moved, revealing a secret niche storing a set of armor. I lifted it up. It was very light, and it consisted of a chest plate, blue tunic, and strange flipper-like shoes. A long blue hat, similar to the one Link wore, had a golden helmet attached, and a cloth meant to cover the face. I smiled. The armor did seem like it was designed for Link.

"Thank you."

_No, thank you all. You saved my son's life; I can finally rest, and join my husband in the afterlife. When you see him again... Tell him that his mother loves him with all her heart. _She smiled, and drifted up toward the heavens.

I decided to go back to the inn to give Link his new armor. On the way, however, I saw him and Rune walking toward the house where Ralis was.

"There you are." Rune walked up to me. "Where were you?" I grinned, and showed them the armor.

"Queen Rutela gave me this. She's gone now, to the afterlife or something. She was very grateful to us for helping her son."

"Well, I'm glad she's at peace now, at least." Rune smiled.

"Link, are you feeling better?"

"Yes. That healing potion completely fixed it up!"

"That's good. Here," I handed him the armor. "This is for you. I don't think it would fit any of us!" I laughed. Link smiled and admired the armor. He put the tunic and chest plate on over his white shirt.

"Wow, it's so light!"

"The queen said that it would help you breath underwater! Now you can get to the zora temple!"

"Yeah. I don't think you guys will be able to come with me, though."

"Kris will," Rune pointed out. "She can breath underwater now, remember?"

"We can ask her if she wants to go in the morning," I suggested.

"If she does, we'll leave that morning," Link said.

"Why?" Rune asked.

"We're so close to finishing this. Once we get the last fused shadow, Midna can use them to beat Zant! I want to end this as soon as possible."

"Alright, Link," Rune reluctantly agreed.

"I need to go see Prince Ralis," I said solemnly."He needs to know about his mother." I was dreading having to break the bad news to him. Link put a hand on my shoulder.

"We'll go with you." I smiled gratefully, and the three of us silently walked toward the general store.

Ilia was sitting by the prince's bed. She got up when she saw us.

"He's doing a lot better! Thank you all so much!" Ilia beamed. Link smiled to see her happy again.

"Ilia, there's something we need to tell Ralis. I think he would rather hear it alone," I told her.

"Oh, sorry. I'll wait outside." Ilia walked out of the room.

"Wait, I'll go with you." Link followed Ilia. "I don't really have much to do with this." Link looked back at us. I nodded, and he left with Ilia.

"Prince Ralis," I said quietly. The little zora boy opened his eyes.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Ralis said weakly.

"My name is Lily, and this is Rune." I gestured to her. "I... we've seen your mother, Queen Rutela."

"You have? Where is she? Is she okay?" he said excitedly, trying to sit up. Rune gently pushed him back down.

"She is alright, but she is no longer here." I tried to say it gently, hoping the boy would understand.

"You mean...she's..." His face fell. I nodded.

"She said to tell you that she loves you with all her heart." Tears filled his eyes, but he smiled.

"I know she does. And I know she's with Dad now, so she will be happy." I smiled at the child's wisdom.

"We're going to be staying here for a few days," Rune told him. "We can help you if you need anything, okay?" Ralis smiled gratefully.

"Thank you. Was it you who brought me here?"

"It was both of us, along with some others. You'll get to meet some of them later, but for now you should rest and recover."

"Okay. Thanks to all of you!" Ralis smiled, and quickly dropped off to sleep. I smiled. He looked so much more peaceful now. Rune and I walked outside, where Link and Ilia were standing. We seemed to have broken an awkward silence, because they both seemed relieved to see us.

"So, does he know..." Link began.

"Yes. I think he will be alright. Ilia, you should probably get some sleep." I turned to her, and I could tell she was tired.

"Okay. Mr. Renado gave me a room here, so I can help the zora boy. Do you know his name?"

"Ralis." Rune told her. Ilia yawned.

"Well, goodnight then." She walked off to her room. Link sighed after she left.

"She really doesn't remember a thing. I tried to remind her of something from her past, but she just looked at me, confused. Do you think we'll be able to do anything?" Link looked at us sadly.

"I'm sure there is a way we can help." I smiled encouragingly. "But right now, you need to focus on the last fused shadow. Getting through the Lakebed Temple won't be easy, and worrying about Ilia isn't going to help you, or her. We will do all we can to help her remember." Rune nodded, and grabbed both our hands.

"I'm exhausted, and I know you both are too. Let's go to bed." We walked back to the inn. Sierra was still asleep in the chair; we tried to wake her up, but she was staying right there! Rune and Link decided to stay on the floor in case she wanted to move, and I collapsed onto my bed. A few minutes later, I fell asleep.

The next morning, we all slept in. The sun was high in the sky before Rune, the least exhausted, woke us up. I told Kris about our idea for her to accompany Link to the underwater temple, and she happily agreed to the idea. Midna appeared, revealing that she had fallen asleep the night before during the battle. I wasn't sure whether to feel angry that she abandoned us, or proud that she had trusted us to safely escort the carriage. After breakfast, Link got dressed in his zora armor. I thought it looked pretty cool on him, and when I commented on it, I found that the others did as well. Midna teleported Link and Kris to Lake Hylia, while me, Rune, and Sierra went back upstairs to talk about our plans for the day.

Link and Kris arrived on a platform of land at the edge of the lake.

"Alright, well, you know what to do. This is the last fused shadow we need to get, so it'll all be over soon." Midna flipped back into Link's shadow. Link felt a little suspicious. He had thought saving the world would be a lot harder. Something told him that it shouldn't be this easy, and this feeling was really bugging him. He decided to dismiss it; he needed to focus on protecting himself and Kris. She, on the other hand, seemed excited about the upcoming challenge. She jumped into the water, gesturing for him to follow. Link put the cloth attached to the helmet over his face, and dove into the lake. His underwater vision seemed a lot clearer. Link took a hesitant breath, and the cloth filtered the water until he was only breathing air.

"Does it work?" Kris asked. She could easily speak underwater, but Link could not without moving the cloth and cutting off his air supply. He gave her a thumbs up, and they started swimming around the lake, looking for the temple. "There it is!" Kris pointed to a steep valley in the middle of the lake and started swimming toward it. Easily diving down, she left Link behind as she sped toward the bottom. A few zoras were swimming around in the valley, and Kris saw a large rock embedded in the side of the underwater walls. Link caught up to her and nodded toward the rock. "I think that's the entrance to the temple," Kris agreed.

"But how do we get in?"


	24. Chapter 23

****Chapter 23****

Link looked around the underwater valley, searching for something to help them move the boulder. Suddenly, he thought of something. He touched Kris's arm, just as she came up with the same idea.

"Oh, I can move the water around the boulder and pull it out!" Kris looked at Link, and he nodded his head. "Heehee, you were thinking that too, weren't you?" He nodded his head again. Kris swam down to the bottom and braced her feet on the sandy floor. She moved her arms in a smooth, flowing motion, and the water around the boulder started pulling away. Link quickly swam backward so as not to get caught in the powerful current. After a few seconds, the boulder came loose and fell slowly to the ground. The water came rushing back into the hole it had left as Kris released it. She grinned. "That was fun! Well, are you ready?" Link nodded, and they swam up into the dark tunnel.

"So... what do we do now?" Rune, me and Sierra sat around our room in the inn.

"I don't know," Sierra replied to Rune. I sighed and fell back on my bed.

"You guys could mess around with your element powers."

"But you won't be able to do it with us!" Sierra looked over at me.

"That's okay." I waved my hand. "I'll be able to train with you soon. Besides, I was planning on practicing with my sword for a while. The hidden skill may look easy, but it's actually kinda hard to pull off."

"Alright." Rune grinned. "Let's go, Sierra!" She grabbed her hand and pulled her off the bed. As they ran excitedly out of the room, I sat back up. I hoped that I wasn't too long before Kris and Link finished the temple. Then we could... I actually couldn't remember what came after we got all the fused shadows. It couldn't be over, the game wasn't even half finished by this point. I shrugged, dismissing it. Whatever happened would happen; I would remember when the time came.

The Lakebed Temple started off with a long underwater tunnel. The first part slanted downward; Kris noticed this and swam to the bottom. Laughing, she slid down the sloping floor. Link smiled, shaking his head, and swam down the middle of the tunnel after her. At the bottom, a huge clam jumped at Kris. She barely got out of the way before it clamped its mouth shut. Link tried slashing at it, but he couldn't use his sword and swim at the same time without spinning off in the water. Thinking quickly, he put his iron boots on, weighing him down and keeping him on the sand. When the clam came at him again, he slashed sideways, cutting a strange piece of flesh that connected its top shell to its bottom. It fell apart and disintegrated, sending purple liquid into the water around it. "Eww!" Kris made a face at the purple liquid. Link saw another clam and dispatched it before it could attack them. Another tunnel led upward, and he could see the surface at the top. He pointed it out to Kris. She smiled, but then noticed two large jellyfish blocking the path. Kris easily avoided them, swimming up in a spiral to avoid them. Link, surprised, tried to do the same. He barely avoided the first jellyfish, but when he brushed up against the second one, it sent a jolt of electricity through him. His whole body went numb and he started sinking back to the sandy floor. Link tried to swim back up, but his muscles felt like jelly. Kris, seeing that something was wrong, swam back down to him. She dragged him up by his arms, dodging past the jellyfish. They surfaced in a round hole in the center of a room. Link seemed to recover and swam over to the edge of the water. Dragging himself on land, he pulled off the cloth on his face. "Are you okay?" Kris pulled herself out of the water and sat next to him.

"Yeah, that was a bit harder than I expected," Link panted. "I guess I know to avoid those next time!" He laughed quietly. Kris smiled and stood up, looking around the room. A few chests were at the edges of the room, and she walked over to see what was in them. A strange red blob fell from the ceiling right in front of her and knocked her backward onto the floor. She quickly got back up and drew her scythe. As the blob jumped toward her, Kris sliced through its middle and it fell apart into a puddle of red goo.

"What was that?" She turned back to Link, who had jumped up when the blob attacked her.

"That was a Red Chu. I've heard of them before; there are a few different colors. The red ones are actually used to make red healing potions."

"Cool!" Kris looked at the puddle of goo as it faded away. "Maybe we can get some in a bottle next time." She walked to the chest which had been her goal and opened it. A few bombs were in it, but they didn't look like regular bombs. These were shaped like round, bluish fish. Link raised an eyebrow at them. "Oh, I remember these!" Kris smiled. "Barnes was selling them; he called them 'water bombs'. They work underwater!"

"Those will come in handy!" Kris handed the bombs to Link, and he put them into his bomb bag. Kris ran around the room, slicing through more Chus and opening all the treasure chests. She found a few arrows, and some rupees. Link followed her, helping destroy Chus.

"There, that's all of them!" Kris opened the last chest. "So, how do we get to the next room?" Link laughed, and pointed to a lever in front of the door. He walked up to the platform in front of it, and jumped, grabbing onto the handle. His weight pulls down a switch, and the gate in front of the door rolled to the side. Kris sliced through a blue Chu in front of the door. "Hey, what do the blue ones do?"

"Oh, those are made into blue potion! We should get some; it's a lot better than red potion!" Link pulled out an empty bottle and scooped the blue Chu jelly into it. Kris lifted up the door, and they walked into an outdoor hallway. There was a large river running below a bridge they were standing on, and a decorative set of double doors at the end. Blocking their path was a tektite, a bug-looking creature with four legs that would jump at them to attack. Link sliced through the Tektite as it came at them. Kris opened the double doors to the next room, and they both gaped at what was before them. The large circular room had two levels, connected by a single staircase. The most noticeable feature, however, was a huge crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

"Wow," Kris breathed, and grinned. "I like this room!" Link smiled and started searching for a way forward. They walked around for a while, Kris finding a few pots with rupees inside them.

"Hey, I found a door!" Link called. Kris shoved the rupees into her wallet and ran over to him. They opened the door to another bridge, and crossed to the other side. The next room had a few platforms hanging from a gear on the ceiling. Link guessed that it was designed to rotate, but it was still now. While he wondered how it was powered, Kris jumped to the floor of the room and killed the tektites. They dropped a few arrows and rupees, which she gathered up. While she did this, Midna appeared from Link's shadow.

"Hey, you see those rocks hanging from the ceiling? I bet we can knock them down somehow, if you use something with a lot of force." Kris climbed back up and handed the arrows to Link, who was still looking around the room. When he saw them, Link thought of something. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a bomb. Tying it to the arrow, he lit the fuse and launched it at the rock. It exploded on impact, and the bottom half of the rock broke off. It fell onto a geyser that had been blocking their way forward and formed a platform of sorts.

"Cool! I wanna shoot the next one!" Kris grinned, giggling slightly. Link nodded and smiled back. They noticed a door on the other side of the room, and they continued to make their way through the room.

Rune and Sierra decided to practice at the foot of Death Mountain. No one seemed to go there, and the earth walls would provide great training material.

"So, I've been thinking. We can both move our elements pretty easily," Rune began. "You can move earth and throw it around, and I'm pretty good at basic attacks. But I think we should think of more...creative things to do with them."

"Like what?" Sierra asked, confused.

"Well..." Rune thought for a moment. "Like... doing more than just straightforward attacks. What can you do with earth beside throw rocks?"

"Hmm..." Sierra walked over and put her hands on the earth wall. "I can feel the structure of this wall. There's a small hollow space a few feet in, and a lot of pressure on certain areas."

"How about you use that to your advantage?" Rune grinned. Sierra concentrated, then shifted her weight back. Moving her arms, she pulled a chunk of the earth wall out. The rest of the wall rumbled, and started to collapse.

"Uh oh. That was a bad idea!" Sierra put her arms up as if to protect herself, and the earth stopped moving. Sweat forming on her brow, she struggled to hold up the wall while moving the piece back into place. It stopped rumbling, and Sierra put her hands on her knees, breathing heavily.

"Well, thanks for not letting the wall collapse on us!" Rune laughed nervously. "That's actually kinda cool; if enemies are chasing us, than you can use that move to block the path!"

"Hehe, yeah!" Sierra straightened up. "You're really good at this stuff!"

"Yeah, well... I guess now we have to be. Speaking of which, don't you think it's time you learned how to use your gloves?"

"Gloves? Oh, yeah." Sierra pulled out a set of metal claws that strapped onto her hands. "I still haven't figured out how to put them on."

"Hmm, let me see." Sierra handed the gloves to her, and Rune examined the leather straps. "I think you just have to tie these ends together." She showed Sierra, and strapped one on for her.

"Oh, now I see." Sierra smiled sheepishly and tied on the other glove.

"Cool. So these gloves won't be as good against most monsters with weapons, but they're good for close combat. We should find a target somewhere..." Rune thought for a moment.

"How about we go ask someone in the village? Maybe they have somewhere better to train," Sierra suggested.

"Sure." Rune and Sierra walked back toward the village.

"Kris, hurry up!" Link sighed as Kris smashed the very last pot in the room.

"Hold on, I have to get all the rupees!"

"We need to move on, you don't..."

"ALL THE RUPEES!" Kris glared at him, holding the pouch she stored her money in. Link sighed, exasperated. She had already held them up, thoroughly searching the temple for any treasure it had hidden. Link usually liked searching for rupees too, but he felt impatient. They were so close to getting the last fused shadow and ending this, but Kris insisted on taking her time collecting money. Midna rose out of his shadow.

"Just leave her, we can get the fused shadow on our own!" Midna seemed even more irritated than him.

"No, we need to stick together!" Link looked at Midna, shocked. "One of us could get attacked!"

"Yeah, don't leave me!" Kris ran over and grabbed Link's arm. "See, I'm done now!" Link smiled slightly.

"I'm not leaving you behind. We should try to hurry, though."

"But I want to get all the rupees!"

"If you keep taking forever, we will leave you!" Midna glared.

"Okay," Kris sighed. "I'll just get _most_ of the rupees."

"Alright, that's settled then. So, we opened up the water flow, activated the turning platforms, and filled the center room with water," Link thought aloud.

"The water is as high as the boss room, so we can get to it now," Kris added.

"So, you just have to find the key now! Shouldn't be too hard." Midna flipped back into Link's shadow. Link sighed.

"Well, there's only one room we haven't been in, so let's check that one."

I sat down, wiping sweat off my forehead. I had been practicing the back slice over and over on a small tree at the edge of the graveyard. It was the only decent target I could find, and I still tried to hold back a little and not slice through it. As I sat, I heard the voices of my friends.

"I think I heard something in the graveyard." I heard Sierra's voice first.

"Heh, maybe there's ghosts!" Rune teased.

"N-no there's not..." Sierra sounded unsure.

"I'm just kidding, jeez!" Rune laughed. I grinned, and decided to go along with the joke. Hiding behind a gravestone, I waited until they reached the tree where I had been practicing.

"Where did these scratches come from?" Sierra voice sounded a bit shaky.

"Uh, donno." Now Rune sounded curious. "It could be a lot of things. Some sort of animal, or..." She trailed off. I struggled not to laugh as I slowly crept closer to them. When I was right behind them, I jumped up and yelled. Sierra screamed, and Rune quickly drew a dagger from her belt. I jumped back to avoid being stabbed, then fell to the ground laughing.

"Haha, oh my gosh, your faces!" I giggled. Rune glared at me while Sierra tried to catch her breath.

"Lily, you really scared us!" Sierra complained.

"Us? I wasn't scared. Lily, I could've killed you." Rune put away her dagger.

"Haha, yes you were!" I laughed. "I'm sorry, I just had too!" I got up, brushing myself off. "I made those scratches; I was practicing before you guys got here."

"You think you got the back slice down?" Rune asked.

"Yep! I'll show you guys later. That poor tree doesn't need any more slices. So, what are you guys doing here?"

"Looking for some sort of target to practice on." Rune looked around the graveyard. "I don't think here is a good idea. It feels wrong to disturb the burial places of the dead."

"Yeah, definitely! Well, what are you practicing?" I asked them. We moved out of the graveyard, until we were in front of the spirit's spring.

"Rune is teaching me how to use these claws!" Sierra held up her hands, which had some metal claws strapped onto the ends of her fingers with leather straps.

"Well, how about you use this as a target?" I drew my sword and held it up horizontally. "I'll hold it a certain way, and you have to hit it with your claws."

"Okay!" Sierra slashed her hands down and hit the edge of the sword. A metallic clang echoed around the village. I turned the sword in different directions while she tried to hit the edge, missing a few times but getting most of them. Rune practiced shooting a few fireballs as Sierra and I sped up. We trained for about an hour, then decided to take a break. Sierra and I splashed around in the spring for a while, cooling off, while Rune walked over to Telma, who was standing on the porch of one of the houses. I ran out of the spring, laughing and dodging splashes from Sierra.

"Hi, Telma!" I waved and smiled.

"Hello, girls!" Telma smiled warmly. "What are you all doing?"

"Training. Mostly just waiting for Link and Kris to get back," I replied.

"That sounds fun! I was just going to eat lunch before I left."

"You're leaving?" Sierra sounded disappointed.

"Yes, I'm sorry, but Ilia and the boy seem to be doing fine, and I really should get back to the bar."

"Why?" I asked, a little suspicious that she needed to leave that day instead of some other day to look after her business. Telma smiled mysteriously.

"Can you girls keep a secret?" All three of us nodded. "Remember when I told you about the Resistance, Lily?" I nodded, while the others looked confused. "The Resistance is a group dedicated to protecting Hyrule. We have periodical meetings in secret. My bar is a good place after it closes, and we have a meeting tonight."

"Ooo, that sounds exciting!" I whispered.

"It is! But I need to leave this afternoon to get there in time. Maybe you girls would like to come?"

"We'd love to, but we really should stay and wait for our friends to get back," Rune explained.

"Maybe we can come later when we are in Castle Town!" I suggested.

"That would be nice! I bet you'll like the other members!" Telma winked and smiled.

"Do you want to eat with us?" Sierra offered. "We were just going to take a food break!"

"I would love to!" Telma smiled, and we walked back to the inn.

Kris and Link made it to the last room.

"It looks like some sort of underwater maze." Link peered at the map. "I can't even see where it's supposed to go!"

"Well, let's just jump in and look for a way forward!" Kris dove into the water. Link put up the face mask and followed her. They wandered around for a while, until Kris found a rock blocking a tunnel. Link pulled out one of the water bombs they found in the chest at the beginning of the temple. They both covered their ears as the rock was destroyed by the explosion. The tunnel was filled with several of the electric jellyfish. Link inwardly groaned. Kris seemed to think of something, and grabbed the clawshot, a weapon they had found earlier by defeating a giant toad thing. It allowed them to grab onto walls and vines, let them pull switches, and make it over obstacles. Link had discovered it also worked as a weapon when they fought some strange lizard things inside of protective water bubbles. Kris shot it at the center of a jellyfish before Link could grab it back from her. The clawshot pulled out the jellyfish's core, killing it.

"Yes!" Kris pumped her fist, then gave the clawshot back to Link. He took out the rest of the jellyfish while Kris swam ahead, dodging and weaving. The next room was small and round; all that was in it was a clawshot switch. Link fired the clawshot and latched onto it. The switch moved, but his weight was not enough to pull it down. He started to search through his pack for the iron boots, but Kris jumped up and grabbed his legs, startling him slightly. Their combined weight pulled the switch down and opened a grate below them. They dropped through and landed on a raised platform surrounded by water. Right in front of them was a dark chest, with a red gem in the middle. Link slowly opened it, and grabbed the key to the boss room. He held it up triumphantly, making Kris laugh. They left the room to travel back to the center room.

Back at the inn, Telma found a stove to cook some meat with. We had a great lunch of some meat sandwiches. While we ate, Telma told us stories of interesting people she had met and some fun things to do in the town. She was a great storyteller, and she made even the most normal events sound fun and interesting. After we ate, Rune and Sierra helped lack the carriage, while I took her horse to drink at the spring. Ilia came outside and greeted me.

"Hello! Um, I'm sorry, but I can't remember your name."

"Lily. How are you liking the village?"

"It's really nice! The kids are so kind to me!" I remembered that they knew her once, and it seemed likely that they would try to help her remember.

"That's good." I led the horse back to Telma, and Ilia walked beside me.

"Are you going somewhere?" she wondered.

"Telma is going back to Castle Town. We will most likely be leaving soon as well." I figured that Link and Kris were close to finishing the temple.

"Oh. I'll miss you all." Ilia looked sad. I hitched the horse up to the carriage and put a hand on her shoulder.

"At least you have friends here." Ilia smiled and nodded. Telma walked over to Ilia.

"Goodbye, honey. Good luck with your memory." Ilia hugged Telma.

"Goodbye." Telma turned to me, Sierra, and Rune.

"Thank you both for helping me load my carriage. I hope to see all of you soon." She shook hands with the three of us, then climbed onto the carriage seat. Telma waved to us as she drove off. Ilia went back inside, while the three of us stood for a moment, watching Telma go.

"We'll see her again soon. I have a feeling that we will," I reassured.

"How do you know?" Sierra asked.

"I think I remember it happening in the game."

"Yeah, about that..." Rune began, looking very worried. "I have a weird feeling that something's wrong."

"Why would anything be wrong?" Sierra asked, sounding concerned.

"I don't know, I just... I think something bad is going to happen to Link and Kris. Do you remember what happens after the water temple?" I knew what she meant; I had some sort of nagging feeling about the water temple as well.

"I-I can't remember exactly..." I thought hard about the few events I could remember from the game.

"Please, try to remember. I think they might be in danger." Rune grabbed my arm urgently.

"Hold on, I..." Suddenly, I remembered. "Zant."

"What?" I remembered that Sierra didn't know who he was.

"Zant is the guy that sent the twilight. I remember he had something to do with what happened after the water temple." Rune let go of my arm, suddenly fearful.

"We have to go! If Zant is there, then they're in trouble!"

"Oh no!" Sierra had caught on. "Can you teleport us there?"

"I'm not exactly the most reliable teleporter yet. We'll have to go on our horses." Rune whistled shrilly. All five of the horses ran through the village toward us. Sierra walked over to Epona and Skippy.

"You can follow us if you want," I heard her whisper. "I think Kris and Link are in danger, but don't worry. We'll take care of them." Rune jumped on Nightmare, not even bothering with the stirrups.

"C'mon, c'mon!" I quickly mounted Starlight, and Sierra climbed on Soulrunner. As we took off toward the lake, I realized that we had become pretty good riders. Once I told Starlight what was going on, she ran faster than I had seen her go. She and Nightmare were neck and neck, with Soulrunner running a bit more carefully behind us. Epona caught up to us, and Skippy struggled to keep up. I guess they wanted to make sure their masters were okay. We all tore across the fields, hoping we could reach our friends before it was too late.

Link and Kris stood before the boss door.

"Are you ready?" Link asked.

"Yep!" Kris smiled brightly, unconcerned about what was beyond the door. Link turned the key, and the huge lock fell to the ground, barely missing Kris's foot. She jumped back, startled. Link struggled to lift the heavy door, and Kris stepped forward to help him. The room was small, with nothing in it but a hole. Link peered down into it, and saw nothing but darkness.

"There's water down there. I can feel it." Kris looked nervous. "It's so dark!" Link grabbed her hand and smiled reassuringly. Kris took a deep breath, and they jumped together into the dark waters.

**AN:**

oh no boss cliffhanger! D: hehe hope you all enjoyed our training montage and Kris's rupee hoarding, see ya at the chapter next weekend! ^w^


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 24**

The water was very deep; Kris had to struggle to see the bottom. Link put on his iron boots to sink to the bottom, and she just swam downward. As they got closer, they saw a small pit in the center of the room, with what looked like a pink tentacle sticking out. As soon as their feet touched the bottom, an eye ball floated into the tentacle from the bottom.

"Ew." Kris grimaced at the eyeball. It looked at them for a few seconds, then sunk back through the tentacle. The sand made a low rumbling sound, and several more tentacles emerged, followed by a gaping mouth lined with teeth like daggers. The eyeball started floating in and out of the tentacles, still watching them.

"Um, that's kind of creepy," Kris said, her voice wavering. Midna appeared, seemingly unbothered by the water.

"That eyeball looks pretty important. Why don't you see if you can yank it out?" She disappeared again, her advice given. Link pulled out the clawshot. He looked at it for a few seconds, shrugged, then walked closer to the monster, aiming the clawshot.

"Um, Link, I don't thank that's such a good..." Kris began. Suddenly, the tentacle closest to Link jerked toward him. It wrapped around his waist and pulled him toward the monsters mouth. Kris shrieked, and, thinking quickly, drew her scythe. She moved the water around her and shot toward the tentacle. She used all of her momentum to slice at the tentacle. It remained intact, but let go of Link just before he reached the monster's mouth. As she sped past, Kris's arm brushed by one of the teeth. A small stream of blood flowed from a cut on her arm. Link swam over and touched her arm gently. "I'm okay! Don't get so close next time!" He nodded, his eyes apologetic. They swam a few feet away from the monster, far enough so it couldn't grab them, but still within the clawshot's range. Link waited until the eye floated close to them, then fired the clawshot. It grabbed the eyeball and yanked it out of the tentacle. Kris sliced at it several times with her scythe, before it jumped back into the monster's mouth and floated back into the tentacles. Several round fish swam out of the gaping mouth. "Hey, those look like the water bombs!" Kris pointed out. One swam too close and tried to bite her. She slashed at it, and the fish started sparking. "Ahhh, they are the water bombs!" She smacked it away, where it exploded. Link tried to grab the eyeball again, accidentally grabbing a few bomb fish in the process. Kris drew her hammer and hit them away from her and Link. Finally, he managed to grab onto the eyeball, and they hit it together, doing twice the damage. The eyeball bounced back into the monster's mouth, and it sunk back into the sand. "Yay!" Kris held her hand up to high-five Link. He did it, but still looked suspiciously at the sand. Suddenly, the whole room shook, and the monster burst out of the sand again. This time, however, its body followed its mouth, revealing its true form. The monster was a giant, long fish, at least five times longer than Link and Kris. It swam around the huge room, which suddenly seemed a lot smaller. A few pillars stood at the edges of the room; the fish smashed into them and them collapsed. Midna appeared, looking a bit surprised.

"Wow, that thing is big! That's Morpheel, the huge aquatic monster. Hey, look at its back! See the eyeball? Maybe you could latch onto it again!" She flipped back into Link's shadow. As the fish swam around the room, Link struggled to keep up with it, trying to get close enough to grab the eye with the clawshot. Kris watched him for a few seconds, then used the water to propel him forward. He nearly inhaled water, but recovered quickly and grabbed the eye with the clawshot. Instead of yanking it out, however, he was pulled forward onto Morpheel. Be nearly fell of as it jerked around, but he held on, and pulled himself up in front of the eye. Link drew his sword and stabbed it straight into the eye. Purple liquid spilled out as Morpheel thrashed around and threw him off. He bumped into Kris, which stopped him from being thrown through the water. Without even bothering to take the clawshot, Kris propelled herself straight toward Morpheel's eye, drawing her scythe again. She easily grabbed onto the fish and stabbed the eye again. After a few more slashes, she too was thrown off. Morpheel seemed disoriented as it swam around, and kept smashing into pillars.

"We've almost got it! One more hit should finish it!" Kris shouted over the crumbling of rock and the gargantuan fish moving through the water. Link nodded, and started swimming after the fish. Kris propelled him forward again, and he stabbed his sword repeatedly into the eye. Morpheel shrieked, and Link was thrown off its back as it thrashed around. The monster slammed into the wall of the underwater room, creating a fissure. The water quickly flowed out through the cracks, and would have swept away Kris and Link, but Kris kept the water around them still as the rest of the water quickly drained out of the room. Soon, there was nothing left on the sandy floor but a few puddles. The huge fish exploded, filling nearly half the room with black squares. They flew toward the center, and the last fused shadow appeared. Midna grabbed it with her hair.

"Well, that's the last of them. I'm grateful to all of you for helping me get them. I know I've been a little bossy lately, but I really don't think I could have done it without you." Midna looked at the floor shyly. Link smiled at her, and Kris spoke up.

"It's okay! We were glad to do it, if it means saving this world!" Midna smiled gratefully, and floated over to a patch of dry sand. A small blue portal appeared.

"Kris, your arm!" Link pointed.

"What's wrong with my arm?" Kris looked at both arms, which looked perfectly fine.

"Didn't you get cut?"

"Huh? Oh, I did. But my arm looks fine!"

"Yeah, how did it heal so fast?"

"Ooo, maybe it has something to do with my water powers!" Kris smiled. "I guess water can heal me; I never felt anything a few minutes after I got cut!"

"That's amazing! You're really lucky!" Link grinned, impressed.

"Heehee, thanks!" Kris giggled.

"Are you ready to go?" Link and Kris looked at each other, and simultaneously nodded. They walked into the portal, and Midna transported the three of them out of the water temple.

As soon as we reached the lake, Rune jumped off of Nightmare and ran to the water's edge.

"Where are they?" she asked frantically. Sierra and I dismounted more slowly.

"Hmm, I think they come out in the spring." I looked over toward the entrance to Lanayru's spring. Rune ran over, and after calling a quick goodbye to the horses, Sierra and I followed her. When we got there, the spring was empty.

"Are we too late?" Sierra asked worriedly.

"I don't think so. They shouldn't have finished that early," I reasoned. Rune walked to the edge of the spring. As she did, a cloud of black squares floated down behind her.

"Rune!" I called excitedly. She turned around, just as Link and Kris materialized in front of her.

"You're okay!" Rune hugged Link. Kris ran over and hugged me and Sierra.

"Well, yeah. The temple wasn't that hard." Link blushed, and hugged her back.

"I didn't think you guys would meet us here! You must've been really bored!" Kris laughed.

"Actually, that's not why we're here," Sierra began.

"I had this feeling that something bad would happen, so we came to warn you!" Rune pulled away, speaking faster than normal. "Remember that guy who spread the twilight? Lily guessed that he might come here."

"How do you know that?" Link looked at me questioningly. I froze, staring at the space behind them. Zant had appeared. Rune caught on and jerked around.

"You!" She angrily drew her katanas. Link noticed and put a hand on her arm to stop her. He pulled her back toward the rest of us. I drew my sword, Kris pulled out her hammer, Sierra drew a short sword, and Link drew his. The five of us stood, ready for a fight. Zant said nothing, but sent out some sort of magic energy. It threw us all backward onto the ground. Lanayru rose up to defend his spring, but Zant simply used the same spell to knock him back. The form of the huge snake faded, and I felt the pain of transformation again. The area darkened into twilight, and I looked down at my dog paws. The others had also transformed, except for Midna and Rune. Midna was in her solid form, and Rune had already recovered and picked up her swords. She charged at the twilight king, but he teleported toward the entrance of the spring, behind us. Rune's momentum wouldn't allow for such a sudden stop, and she fell into the water.

"Pathetic." Zant's voice was deep and emotionless. "Even the hero and four wielders of the elements have no hope of standing against me. Although," He walked toward me as I tried to stand, disoriented from the previous attack, "I sense one is missing from your group." I growled at him, and he laughed coldly. I suddenly felt dizzy again, and fell to the ground. Midna glared at Zant, the only one of us still standing. Zant merely looked at her, and Midna flew toward the edge of the spring, unable to move on her own. She struggled against the magic, and the three fused shadows appeared near her. They floated toward Zant and disappeared.

_Hey, we worked hard for those!_ Kris yelled furiously, but Zant could not hear her.

"You really thought you could use this old, broken magic against me?" Zant threw Midna against the wall, then back toward him. He whispered to her, but I could not make out what he was saying. I remembered that he had tried to convince her to join him in the game. I tried to stand but I felt sick. I saw the bottom of Zant's helmet fold upward, revealing his mouth. His skin was very pale, and his mouth seemed to have slits on the edges. I shuddered. Midna scowled, and jerked free of the spell. Rune finally managed to get her arms over the edge of the spring. She watched in shock as a red ball of magic grew in front of Zant.

"My power is that of the twilight king, and you WILL respect it!" Link noticed the magic, and jumped at Zant, only to be thrown back again when he hit the ball. I felt strong enough to stand, and ran over to Link. A shard of rock was embedded in his forehead, and as I watched, it sunk into his head with an orange glow. Rune pulled herself up over the edge of the spring and ran to Link's side. Zant laughed coldly, and another ball of red formed. A movement seemed to catch his eye. Sierra and Kris were standing up slowly, evidently still a bit dizzy. He aimed the ball of magic at them.

Watch out! I yelled, but the effects of the spell were still slowing them down too much for them to react. I quickly made a decision, and jumped in front of them. The shard flew straight at me and I fell to the ground. It slowly sunk into my chest and I whimpered in pain. It felt like a dagger was slowly being pressed into my heart. Sierra stood over me.

_Lily, are you okay?_ I groaned. Midna glared at Zant, furious. He threw her toward the spring.

"Fine, then! I shall return you to the light you covet!" The land returned to light, and Lanayru appeared. I vaguely noticed Kris and Sierra near me turn back into a human and a zora. Lanayru glared at Midna, and shot a beam of light at her.

"No!" Rune ran toward the light spirit. Midna screamed, and her body faded. "Midna!" Rune glared at Zant, raising her sword. She briefly looked around and saw that we were in no condition to fight. "I'll be seeing you again soon. I wouldn't count on surviving the encounter, if I were you," Rune threatened. I felt warm light surround me, and saw the same light engulf the others. We all were transported away, leaving Zant standing in the spring alone.


End file.
